Department for Transport

Laing O'Rourke

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment has he made of the financial sustainability of Laing O’Rourke and the ability of that company to fulfil its contractual responsibilities in relation to (a) railways and (b) highways.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Department’s remit is delivered mostly through its Arm’s Length Bodies and Executive Agencies. Each body assesses prospective suppliers’ ability to deliver its obligations during each procurement exercise before the award of contracts. This to comply with procurement regulations and statute, as well as evaluate the company’s competence and capability. Before contracts are signed there are various layers of governance across the ALBs, the Department, Cabinet Office and HM Treasury depending on the circumstances of each procurement. There are also measures in place to monitor financial stability throughout the procurement lifecycle.

Roads: South Yorkshire

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the £420 million announced in Budget 2018 to be provided to councils to fix potholes and carry out other road repairs, how much of that funding will be allocated to (a) Sheffield City Region and (b) Barnsley.

Jesse Norman: I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 186324 on 5 November

Railways: Fares

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November to Question 185132, Railways: Fares, on what date his Department was first notified of the roll-out.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Department was notified the day before it was announced publicly.

Railways: Pay

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2018 to Question 178322 on Train Operating Companies: Pay, whether he has asked the Rail Delivery Group to include executive pay in the development of a pay award system that uses CPI as the inflation measure for future pay deals.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The rail industry has been shifting away from RPI over time and most rail industry costs now are not linked to RPI, with the primary exception of wages. The Secretary of State for Transport has asked the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) to develop an approach for how earnings growth for all employees could be more closely aligned with CPI, with the aim of ensuring that the railway is affordable for the fare paying and tax paying public. He has not made any reference to a ‘pay award system’ for any groups of staff. Pay negotiations and the settlements reached by individual employers and trade unions remain a matter for local collective bargaining.

Aerospace Industry and Aviation: Research

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much the Department for Transport has spent on research and development in (a) aviation and (b) aerospace in (i) 2015, (ii) 2016 and (iii) 2017.

Jesse Norman: The total amount spent by the Department for Transport on both aviation and aerospace research and development is provided below. These figures include both sectors. It is not possible to separate the expenditure as many individual research projects include aspects of both:2014/15: £1,137,7252015/16: £2,683,8952016/17: £1,571,7682017/18: £1,485,789 The figures above do not include any spend which may have been incurred by other Government departments in this area.

Aviation

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number UK residents who did not take a (a) domestic and (b) international flight in (i) 2015, (ii) 2016 and (iii) 2017.

Jesse Norman: Estimates are provided in the tables below for England. They are based on data from the Department’s National Travel Survey and the Office for National Statistics mid-year population estimates. Figures for the UK are not available. Table 1: Estimated number of England residents who take a domestic flight within Great Britain less than once a year or never (in millions), 2015-2017   201520162017England residents (millions)50.951.451.5 Table 2: Estimated number of England residents who did not take any outward international flights in the last 12 months (in millions), 2015-2017  201520162017England residents (millions)29.028.627.9

Ports: Flags

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has plans to ensure that the Red Ensign is flown at British ports after the UK leaves the EU.

Chris Grayling: The UK will continue to offer a quality and attractive flag for shipping companies and we expect to see the Red Ensign flying not only in UK ports but around the world.

Large Goods Vehicles: Licensing

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) applications it will receive for European Conference of Ministers of Transport multilateral road haulage permits and (b) the number of European Conference of Ministers of Transport permits that will be available to UK hauliers after the UK leaves the EU.

Chris Grayling: The UK is seeking reciprocal arrangements on road haulage in our negotiations with the EU and we are confident of reaching a good deal which works for this key sector. Through the Haulage Permits and Trailer Registration Act and subsequent regulations, the Government is prepared for the range of possible outcomes, including the unlikely possibility of a no-deal outcome. The work the Department has undertaken will ensure we are able to allocate permits efficiently to deliver the greatest economic benefit should demand exceed supply. While there are currently around 32,000 vehicles authorised on Community Licences, we do not expect to receive this many ECMT applications. In 2019 the UK will have a total of 3,816 permits, comprised of 984 annual permits and 2,832 monthly permits.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 31 October 2018 to Question 184392, on what date he plans to publish the PwC report on High Speed Two.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: I can confirm that we intend to publish the report before the House rises for the Christmas recess.

Biofuels

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the his Department's consultation, E10 petrol, consumer protection and fuel pump labelling, published on 20 July 2018, for what reason that consultation did not consider the mandatory introduction of E10 fuels.

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the consultation, E10 petrol, consumer protection and fuel pump labelling, published by his Department on 20 July 2018, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of combining a mandated introduction of E10 fuels with a scrappage scheme for incompatible vehicles.

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for the publication of the Government’s response to the  consultation entitled E10 petrol, consumer protection and fuel pump labelling, published by her Department on 20 July 2018.

Jesse Norman: The Department's consultation, “E10 petrol, consumer protection and fuel pump labelling”, included a call for evidence inviting stakeholders to contribute ideas on whether and how E10 could be introduced in a way which maximises the benefits of that fuel and ensures consumers are protected. The Department is carefully considering the responses submitted, including proposals for a mandate or scrappage scheme, and will respond to the call for evidence in due course. The information gathered in the call for evidence will help the Department to ensure that decision making on this important policy area is robust. Any legislative proposals on the mandatory introduction of E10 would be subject to a full consultation with an accompanying impact assessment.

Roads: Horses

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of updating the Highway Code to include the British Horse Society’s advice to drivers on how to pass horses safely on roads.

Jesse Norman: The Government announced on 18 October 2018 that, as part of the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS) Safety Review, The Highway Code would be reviewed to help keep cyclists and pedestrians safe on the roads. The Government recognises that horse riders and carriage drivers are also vulnerable road users and that advice on, for example, overtaking or passing cyclists applies equally to them. The full scope of the review has yet to be determined but as is normal practice it will be conducted in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, including those representing equestrians.

Belfast Harbour: Domestic Visits

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and which (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department have visited the Port of Belfast in the last 12 months; when those visits took place; and how long they spent at the port in each of those visits.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Port of Belfast has not been visited by Department for Transport ministers in the last 12 months. Numerous officials from across the Department for Transport engage with and visit the Port of Belfast in the course of their duties. Due to the number and variety of official level engagements it is not possible to provide a detailed breakdown of these visits as the information could only be provided at disproportionate cost. Departmental visits to UK ports allow sufficient time for ministers and officials to observe port operations.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Data Protection

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will make an assessment of the merits of allowing the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to sell personal data to third parties; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: The arrangements governing the release of Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) data aim to strike a balance between protecting personal data and allowing vehicle keepers to be contacted by those with a legitimate need to do so.The law allows the DVLA to release vehicle keeper details to third parties who can demonstrate that they have a reasonable cause to receive it. The DVLA operates a range of safeguards to protect personal data and to ensure it is used appropriately, including regular audits.The fees levied for the release of data are intended to recover the full cost of providing the information, so that the DVLA neither profits at the expense of customers nor makes a loss which taxpayers must then subsidise.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much revenue the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency raised from selling personal data to third parties in the last financial year.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) neither promotes the release of personal data, nor does the DVLA seek to release personal data to generate a fee/revenue. DVLA responds, as required, to each request for vehicle and driver data and while DVLA is permitted to charge a fee for the release of information under the reasonable cause provisions, DVLA is not permitted to profit from the release. The fee set is to recover the related administrative costs and this means that it is the applicant and not the taxpayer that funds this activity. Total fees recognised by DVLA from charges for requests for vehicle and driver personal data for the most recent financial year available, is:  2017-18Account£000sDriver Fee Paying Enquiries4,597Vehicle Fee Paying Enquiries350Electronic Data Link Fee Paying Enquiries15,951Receipts / Sale Vehicles including Bulk Data1,920Total22,818

East Coast Railway Line: Trains

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for the new Azuma Trains to commence services on the East Coast Main Line Service between London and Doncaster.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: LNER plan to bring the new trains into service from early 2019, to ensure passengers get the best possible customer experience. The department is working with Hitachi, the ORR, LNER, and Network Rail to ensure that these new trains enter service on the ECML as soon as possible, with rollout scheduled to be complete by 2020.

Channel Tunnel: Domestic Visits

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and which (a) ministers and (b) officials of his Department have visited the Channel Tunnel at Folkestone over the last 12 months; when those visits took place; and how long was spent at the border in each of those visits.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Channel Tunnel was last visited by a Department for Transport Minister when the Secretary of State for Transport, Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP, visited on 25 October 2018. Numerous officials from across the Department for Transport engage with and visit the Channel Tunnel in the course of their duties. Due to the number and variety of official level engagements it is not possible to provide a detailed breakdown of these visits as the information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Mineworkers' Pension Scheme

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 25 July 2018 to Question 164474 on the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme, what discussions his Department has had with the trustees of that scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: Those discussions are ongoing. I would be happy to update my hon. Friend once a conclusion has been reached.

Mineworkers' Pension Scheme

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish the annual surpluses to Government from the Mineworkers Pension Fund in each year since 1994.

Claire Perry: The sums the Government has received each year from its share of scheme surpluses are set out below. There were no receipts before 1998. Surplus shares are calculated at three-yearly valuations and paid in ten annual instalments. More information is available in a House of Commons Research Briefing. The Government guarantee has enabled an investment strategy that has resulted in scheme members receiving payments 33% higher than they would have been if they received only their actual earned pension up to privatisation. Year[1]Share of surplus (£m)YearShare of surplus (£m)1998113200914619991132010145200011320113312001196201231200219620135020031962014502004175201592.120051752016113.42006175201751200732720185120081462019142.4 [1] MPS Scheme years run from 1 October to 30 September. Payments are generally made on 1 October.

Fracking

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what research the Government has (a) undertaken and (b) commissioned on fracking and subsidence in former coal mining areas.

Claire Perry: Earlier this year the independent Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) commissioned a report from the British Geological Survey (BGS) to review the depth and location of historic coal mines in the East Midlands, which is a prospective area for shale gas development.The OGA has commissioned a further report from the BGS which will include a review of historical seismicity which will be published in due courseThese reports will inform the OGA’s consideration of any future applications for hydraulic fracturing operations in historic coal mining areas.

Energy: Conservation

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of using the kWh/m2/year rating as the principle energy efficiency rating for future energy efficiency regulations.

Claire Perry: The principle rating referred to in building energy efficiency regulations is the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ”Energy Efficiency Rating”, which is currently based on the energy cost to the consumer. In July this year BEIS and MHCLG jointly released a Call for Evidence on EPCs which included a question on whether cost, energy consumption in kWh or carbon emissions was the most suitable rating. The Call for Evidence closed on 19 October and we are currently analysing responses. The responses to the Call for Evidence will inform future policy thinking in this area.

British Petroleum: Offshore Industry

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the decision to permit the development of the Alligin oil field by BP was taken by (a) the Oil and Gas Authority or (b) the Government.

Claire Perry: The Energy Act 2016 which established the Oil and Gas Authority as an independent company to regulate, promote and influence the UK oil and gas sector. The Oil and Gas Authority, in their role to regulate the sector, were responsible for taking the decision to permit the development of the Alligin oil field.

Fireworks: Pets

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what guidance his Department provides to local authorities on the effect of fireworks on pets.

Kelly Tolhurst: Government takes firework safety very seriously and the Office for Product Safety and Standards is currently working with industry, retailers, charities and others, including the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and Netmums, to promote the safe and responsible use of fireworks and to raise consumer awareness on firework safety. We are encouraging their considerate use through government-sponsored guidance via the GOV.UK website. This includes a link to the Fireworks Code hosted by RoSPA that contains a section on respecting neighbours especially those with pets and informing them of planned displays. In addition, the Government supports the Blue Cross animal charity guidance which advises how to avoid or reduce stress to animals when fireworks are being set off. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), the Kennel Club and the Dogs Trust provide similar advice on their websites concerning how to minimise the impact of fireworks use on animals.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to incorporate (a) big society and (b) civic society considerations into its policy formulation process.

Richard Harrington: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on 8th November to Question 186968:https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-11-01/186968/

INEOS: Tees Valley

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support the Government plans to provide to Ineos for choosing the South Tees Development Corporation site as the manufacturing location of that company’s Projekt Grenadier 4x4 vehicles.

Richard Harrington: Government has a long-standing programme of support to maintain the competitiveness of the UK automotive sector. This includes the Automotive Sector Deal. This is a joint strategic vision for how government and industry will work together to respond to the Grand Challenges of the Industrial Strategy, such as Clean Growth and the Future of Mobility. The Department has maintained close engagement with INEOS throughout their process and has met with the company and members of the South Tees Development Corporation on several occasions. We continue to promote UK options with INEOS, and stand ready to support in any way we can.

Manufacturing Industries

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate his Department has made of the number of manufacturing companies that have (a) shortened their supply chains and (b) relocated their production to the UK from abroad in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Richard Harrington: No such estimates are available from official sources. Our ambitious Industrial Strategy comprises policies to build an economy fit for the future, helping to foster a competitive environment where businesses can have the confidence to invest in UK manufacturing and thrive. Around 20% of the 2,072 new inward FDI projects in 2017/18 were in the areas of advanced manufacturing and life sciences. Across the Automotive, Aerospace, and the Advanced Engineering Supply Chain over the same period, DIT supported 320 inward investments into the UK, creating or securing 7,500 jobs in the UK.

Iron and Steel: USA

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect the US Steel tariffs have had on the UK steel sector since they came into place.

Richard Harrington: We are working closely with affected companies across the UK steel industry to fully evaluate the impact of these measures on the UK. The total value of US imports of steel from the UK in 2017 was £360m which amounts to 7% of UK steel exports. We remain deeply disappointed that the US has decided to apply tariffs to steel and aluminium imports from the EU on national security grounds. The UK and other European Union countries are close allies of the US and should be permanently and fully exempted from the tariffs. We will continue to work closely with the EU and US Administration to seek a constructive, permanent resolution to avoid further escalation that would harm businesses and consumers in both the US and EU.

Commonwealth: Plastics

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding the Government plans to allocate to research to help Commonwealth countries prevent plastic waste from entering the oceans.

Mr Sam Gyimah: In April, the Government set out its intention to work with other Commonwealth countries to develop a Marine Plastics Research and Innovation Framework and announced up to £25 million as part of the UK’s contribution. In addition, the Government announced several other Commonwealth programmes, totalling up to £41.4 million, that support capacity building, including research activities, to prevent plastic entering the world’s oceans and rivers.

Fireworks: Packaging

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to introduce graphic warnings on fireworks packaging.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government promotes the safe and responsible use of fireworks by consumers and there is strict legislation in place which regulates their supply and use. The Government is currently working with a range of stakeholders to raise consumer awareness on firework safety. Under current UK legislation, there are clear requirements on manufacturers to categorise and label fireworks according to their explosive content, safety distances, noise level, or similar. The label must include instructions on safety distances and means of ignition and safety messages. The Government has no plans to amend legislation on firework packaging.

Fireworks: Children

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure young children are protected from firework-related injuries.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government promotes the safe and responsible use of fireworks by consumers and there is strict legislation in place which regulates their supply and use. There are age restrictions in place which prevent the sale of fireworks to those under the age of 16 or 18 dependent on the classification of firework. The law also prohibits those under 18 possessing any category F2 or F3 fireworks in a public place subject to very limited exceptions. The Government is currently working with industry, retailers, charities and others such as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and Netmums to promote the safe and responsible use of fireworks and to raise consumer awareness on firework safety.

Iron and Steel: Tees Valley

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of providing support to  to steel companies for the construction of electric arc furnaces on Teesside; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Harrington: The Government continues to work with Mayor Ben Houchen and the Tees Valley Combined Authority to promote new investment in the Tees Valley, including in the materials sector. Discussions with potential investors are at various stages of maturity and remain commercially sensitive. Any proposals that request public funding will be assessed for their robustness and the value for money it would represent.

Fracking: Lancashire

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what comparative assessment his Department has made of geological activity in Fylde (a) since the commencement of exploratory drilling at the Preston New Road Shale Gas site and (b) prior to such drilling.

Claire Perry: This is publicly available information:https://www.bgs.ac.uk/research/groundwater/shaleGas/monitoring/lancashire.html.

Fireworks: Noise

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to amend the regulations on the sale or use of fireworks (a) to reduce the maximum decibel level of fireworks purchasable by the general public and (b) encourage the use of low noise fireworks.

Kelly Tolhurst: Government takes firework safety very seriously and the Office for Product Safety and Standards is working with industry, retailers, charities and others, including RoSPA, to promote the safe, responsible, and considerate use of fireworks. There are already controls on noise levels for fireworks and it is an offence to supply fireworks exceeding 120 decibels to the public. There are no plans to amend the regulations to reduce this level.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to Answer of 1 November 2018 to Question 182295 on Renewable energy: feed-in tariffs, what estimate he has made of the additional cost to consumer bills from (a) photovoltaic and (b) non-photovoltaic installations through the export tariff of the feed-in-tariff in the financial year 2017-18.

Claire Perry: Figures are not yet available for 2017/18, and are not split by technology. Total deemed export payments under the Feed-in Tariff scheme in 2016/17 were £48,790,253. More information can be found in Ofgem’s annual reports on the FIT scheme: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/feed-tariff-fit-annual-report-2016-17.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Working Hours

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the contracted hours are for the highest paid member of staff in the (a) HM Land Registry, (b) Ofgem, (c) Competition and Markets Authority, (d) Companies House, (e) Insolvency Service, (f) Intellectual Property Office, (g) Met Office and (h) UK Space Agency.

Richard Harrington: The highest paid members of staff across these organisations are members of the Senior Civil Service Each has a standard Senior Civil Service contract, where they are required to work a minimum (over a 5-day week) of 42 hours, including daily meal breaks of one hour. However, as a senior civil servant, they are required to work such additional hours as may from time to time be reasonable and necessary for the efficient performance of their duties.

Climate Change: National Income

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of climate change on GDP in the next four decades.

Claire Perry: The 2007 Stern Review concluded that the impacts of unmitigated climate change could be equivalent to losing 5-20% of global GDP, with the higher range accounting for a wide range of impacts and risks. A range of scientific evidence also makes clear that the risks and impacts could be severe, with some potentially catastrophic. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report and 1.5°C Special Report show that human-caused climate change has had widespread impacts on human and natural systems, for example, heatwaves are longer, hotter, and more frequent, and the sea-level is rising at a rate of 2.6 – 2.9 millimetres per year. The UK’s 2017 Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) finds that climate change poses multiple risks to the UK. Communities, businesses and infrastructure will be affected by flooding and coastal change, domestic and international food production and trade could be impacted, and our natural capital (including ecosystems, soils and biodiversity) will be at risk. People’s health, wellbeing and productivity will be at risk from high temperatures, and people, animals and plants will be at risk from new and emerging pests and diseases. The CCRA also identified that there may be economic opportunities for UK business from an increase in global demand for adaptation-related goods and services like engineering and insurance.

Post Offices: Acton

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Department holds on (a) the average weekly number of customers and (b) revenue generated at Acton Post Office in the six months prior to its closure on 24 October.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010.I have been informed that Acton Post Office has closed as the site is being redeveloped and that unfortunately the Post Office has not been able to establish an alternative service so far. As this is an operational matter for the Post Office I have asked Paula Vennells, the Group Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to you on this matter setting out what steps the Post Office is doing to restore the service as soon as possible. A copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Energy: Private Rented Housing

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many private rented homes require additional energy efficiency installations costing between £2,500 and £3,500 in each (a) region and (b) council authority area.

Claire Perry: Analysis of private rented housing data indicates that approximately 72,000 properties will receive packages of measures costing between £2,500 and £3,500 under amended Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard Regulations. On average, tenants benefitting from improvements under these regulations will see their energy costs fall by £180 per year. Due of the comparatively small sample size used to model those private rented sector properties with F and G energy efficiency ratings, we are unable to reliably break the above subset of properties down by region or council authority area.

Wind Power

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of UK energy consumption is provided by (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind farms.

Claire Perry: In 2017, the proportion of UK electricity demand (1) met by (a) onshore wind was 8.2 per cent and (b) by offshore wind was 5.9 per cent (2). (1) UK electricity demand was met by UK electricity generation and net imports.(2) Data is taken from the Digest of UK Energy Statistics (DUKES) 2018 from tables DUKES 5.1 for demand and DUKES 6.4 for wind generation: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electricity-chapter-5-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukeshttps://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/renewable-sources-of-energy-chapter-6-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes

Renewable Energy: EU Law

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has plans to transpose the provisions of the EU Renewable Energy Directive II into UK law when the UK leaves the EU.

Claire Perry: Leaving the EU will not affect the UK's commitment to domestic and international efforts to tackle climate change. Renewable technologies now form a very significant part of the UK’s energy mix and will continue to do so into the future. Renewable energy will have a key role to play in delivering our ambitious Clean Growth Strategy.The UK will consider the extent of our longer term cooperation with the EU on renewable energy as part of the wider EU Exit negotiations on our future energy partnership.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Jeremy Corbyn

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for democracy in the UK of the US imposing sanctions on the official leader of the UK opposition.

Sir Alan Duncan: As far as we are aware no US sanctions are being considered against the Leader of the Opposition.

Burma: Rohingya

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs,  what recent representations his Department has made to the Myanmar authorities on the Rohingya crisis.

Mark Field: ​The Foreign Secretary met with Burmese State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on 20 September in Burma and raised the importance of the safe, voluntary and dignified return of refugees to Rakhine State, and ensuring those responsible for human rights violations are held to account. I spoke with the Burmese Minister for International Cooperation Kyaw Tin on 1 November to: stress the UK's serious concern at the 30 October announcement of the Governments of Burma and Bangladesh that refugee repatriation would commence in mid-November; and underline that the Commission of Inquiry needs to be independent and credible, draw on all available evidence and lead to a judicial process.

Jair Bolsonaro

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the safety implications for (a) women, (b) LGBTQ  and (c) black and minority ethnic people visiting Brazil of the election of Jair Bolsonaro.

Sir Alan Duncan: In our assessment, the election of Jair Bolsonaro has not changed the safety of women, LGBTQ, and black and minority ethnic people visiting Brazil. We advise all people planning to visit Brazil to consult FCO travel advice. We keep our travel advice under constant review and make regular updates to ensure it provides an up-to-date assessment of risks and other issues which may affect British Nationals.

Jair Bolsonaro

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of potential risks to (a) democratic institutions, (b) the rule of law, (c) freedom of the press and (d) human rights in Brazil as a result of the election of Jair Bolsonaro as that country’s President.

Sir Alan Duncan: Brazil is Latin America's largest democracy. It has strong institutions to guarantee the rule of law, freedom of the press and human rights with the clear separation of powers protected by the constitution. This has not been changed by the election of Jair Bolsonaro. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Brazil: Israel

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the plans of the President-Elect of Brazil to move that country's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on the UK foreign policy objective of achieving a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians.

Alistair Burt: We assess that moving the Brazilian embassy to Jerusalem before a final status agreement would not help peace in the region. Our position on the status of Jerusalem is clear and long-standing: it should be determined in a negotiated settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and Jerusalem should ultimately be the shared capital of the Israeli and Palestinian states.

Armed Conflict: Sexual Offences

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much money his Department has allocated to tackle sexual violence in conflict since 2010.

Mark Field: The Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) was launched in 2012; we do not hold distinct data on tackling sexual violence in conflict from before that date. From the financial year 2012/13 to the financial year 2017/18, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office spent approximately £42.67 million on preventing sexual violence in conflict. In the current financial year, we have allocated approximately £3.38 million to tackling sexual violence in conflict.

Armed Conflict: Sexual Offences

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to tackle conflict-related sexual violence.

Mark Field: Since launching the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) in 2012, the UK has continued to lead global efforts to end the horror of sexual violence in conflict, and we have committed over £44 million in UK funding across 26 countries. The Ministry of Defence has trained 17,000 000 national and international police and military personnel, including peacekeepers, on sexual and gender-based violence issues, including in Kenya, Nigeria, DRC, Malawi and Iraq. The UK’s PSVI Team of Experts has been deployed over 90 times, to build the capacity of partner governments, the UN and NGOs. We have launched the first and second editions of the International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict, and employed the Protocol to build the capacity of governments, judiciary, police, military and civil society to gather evidence of sexual violence in conflict and strengthen prosecutions. It has also been used by many NGOs and international organisations such as the ICC and UN OHCHR. To help tackle the stigma of sexual violence, we launched the ‘Principles for Global Action: preventing and addressing stigma associated with conflict-related sexual violence’ at the UN General Assembly in September 2017. These principles have been used by organisations including the UN, for example as part of the Stigma Alleviation Program in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The UK will host a PSVI International Conference in November 2019 to galvanise the world into further action, and demonstrate the UK’s continued global leadership on tackling sexual violence in conflict.

Wildlife: Smuggling

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many nations have now signed up to the London Declaration from the International Wildlife Trade Conference 2018; and what assessment he has made of the implications of that number for the endangered species trade.

Mark Field: 57 countries have adopted the London 2018 Declaration committing to action to protect endangered species around the globe, with more expected to sign. This important pledge of international action reflects the success of the Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference in London in October, which was attended by more than 70 countries and more than 400 organisations. The conference focused the minds of international governments on the issue and energized global cooperation to fight the illegal wildlife trade. We will continue to work with our international partners to make progress on commitments pledged at the event.We do not have direct information on the likely impact that action by the 57 countries who adopted the London Declaration will have on endangered species, but the growing number of signatories growing global ambition to funding the illegal wildlife trade, which will increase the protection for endagered species.

Antarctic: Marine Protected Areas

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress has been made in securing support for a Marine Protected Area in the Weddell Sea.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK remains fully committed to conserving the marine environment around Antarctica, in line with the objectives of the Antarctic Treaty and the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). We have been working hard with our international partners to establish a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), and gain agreement for MPAs in East Antarctica, the Weddell Sea and around the Antarctic Peninsula. It is not in our gift to implement the MPA unilaterally. It is subject to an international treaty. At the recent CCAMLR annual meeting, which concluded on 2 November 2018, these proposals were rejected by Russia and China. We remain committed to working with all CCAMLR Members to seek consensus at next year's meeting.

Marine Protected Areas

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, (a) how much and (b) what proportion of the UK's maritime estate including the Overseas Territories is planned to be covered by a blue belt of marine protected areas by 2022.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK Government is committed to creating a Blue Belt around the UK and its Overseas Territories, subject to local support and environmental need.Over 3 million square kilometres of British waters have already been protected. The Blue Belt Programme, which runs from 2016 to 2020, will ensure that that over 4 million square kilometres are designated by 2020. This means that 60% of British waters will be protected and managed by 2020.

United Arab Emirates: Official Visits

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November to Question 183261 on United Arab Emirates: Official Visits, whether a (a) private secretary and (b) Embassy official was present at any meetings he had with Ministers or officials from overseas governments.

Alistair Burt: When attending the Sir Bani Yas Forum in United Arab Emirates in 2017, I was accompanied by a private secretary.

Iran: Nuclear Power

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the sustainability of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran.

Alistair Burt: We believe the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) remains the best way of preventing a nuclear-armed Iran and we are determined to see it maintained for as long as Iran complies with it. The deal is a critical agreement that makes the world a safer place and it is working; Iran remains constrained by the strict nuclear limits in the deal and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) retains unprecedented access to monitor and verify Iran's activities. IAEA reports continue to confirm that Iran is adhering to the nuclear limits in the JCPoA.As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on Monday 5 November, we have been clear with the US about our determination to preserve the JCPoA, and the fact that this is driven by our national security interests. The UK is working with France and Germany on a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to enable continued sanctions relief to reach Iran, and to allow for European exporters and importers to trade in compliance with EU and UN sanctions.In parallel to our work with partners to maintain the JCPoA, we continue to take steps with our partners against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps destabilising behaviour across the region and to hold Iran to account on human rights, including its treatment of British-Iranians detained in Iran.

Nigeria: Politics and Government

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the security situation in the north of Nigeria; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: We are deeply concerned by the ongoing ‎violence across Nigeria and the devastating impact it has had on affected communities. It is essential that both the Federal and State Governments in Nigeria address the drivers of conflict by working to develop solutions that meet the needs of all the communities affected. The UK and Nigeria have a security and defence partnership, signed during the Prime Minister's visit. We support the Nigerian authorities in improving security and in order to enable economic growth. The UK is also providing humanitarian and development aid to Nigeria, investing over £300 million over the next five years.

Cuba: USA

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has held with his counterparts in the US Administration on the US trade embargo of Cuba.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK position on this matter is long-standing and well-known to the US Administration. We believe it diminishes the prospect for positive change in Cuba and we consider it to be counter-productive and damaging, including to UK interests. It is right that the UK has again voted in support of the Cuban resolution at this year's UN General Assembly on 1 November.

Papua: Human Rights

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether officials in (a) his Department and (b) the Indonesian Embassy have met the non-governmental organizations (i) Tapol and (ii) Etan to discuss human rights in West Papua.

Mark Field: Officials in London have not met representatives from Tapol since 2013 and we have no record of meetings with ETAN. Officials in Jakarta last met Tapol in Jakarta in March 2018 and are planning to meet them again in November. During regular visits to Papua, embassy officials meet local government officials, civil society groups, businesses and local communities to discuss issues such as human rights, economic development and sustainable forest management.​

Yemen: Humanitarian Aid

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to table a resolution calling for (a) a humanitarian ceasefire and (b) the safe passage of food and other aid to Yemen at the UN Security Council this week.

Alistair Burt: The UK is discussing with UN Security Council partners what more the Council can do to address the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and step up support for the work of the UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths. The Foreign Secretary discussed this step with the UN Special Envoy and they agreed that the time was right for the Council to act to bolster the UN led process. I met UN Resident Coordinator in Yemen, Lisa Grande, on 8 November in Abu Dhabi to discuss the situation in Yemen and the UN's humanitarian work.A nationwide ceasefire will only have an effect on the ground if it is underpinned by a political deal between the conflict parties. There is a small but real chance that a cessation of hostilities could alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people. This must be the first priority as we seek to put in place a longer term solution.

USA: Demonstrations

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his US counterpart on President Trump’s proposed authorisation of the use of live fire against people throwing rocks at military personnel at the US border with Mexico.

Sir Alan Duncan: We have not made representations on this issue. It is the stated position of this Government that all countries have a responsibility to address migration issues in a humane, fair and effective way.​ ​

Burma: Rohingya

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to the governments of (a) Bangladesh and (b) Myanmar on agreement between those countries on the repatriation of Rohingya refugees.

Mark Field: ​I spoke with the both Bangladeshi State Minister of Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam and Burmese Minister for International Cooperation Kyaw Tin on 1 November to stress the UK's serious concern at their Governments' announcement on 30 October that refugee repatriation would commence in mid-November. The UK will continue to make representations underlining the importance of a safe, voluntary and dignified return for refugees.

Syria: Islamic State

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with representatives of (a) the Syrian democratic forces and (b) his counterparts in neighbouring countries to Syria on the re-education and rehabilitation of Daesh indoctrinated children; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with representatives of the Syrian democratic forces on assistance in managing and rehabilitating former captives of Daesh who originate from countries other than Syria; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: ​I have had no discussions with Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) representatives. The Global Coalition against Daesh, of which we are a member, works closely with the SDF in the ongoing fight against Daesh and engages with them on a number of related issues, including the situation of former Daesh fighters and their families, including children. As part of our significant humanitarian programme, the UK is expanding support for non-formal education activities in former Daesh-controlled areas in Northeast Syria, alongside psychosocial support for children affected by trauma. We remain committed to achieving justice for the victims of Daesh in Syria and Iraq.

Syria: Turkey

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Turkish counterpart on reports of recent heavy weaponry attacks by that country on northern and eastern Syria; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​We have made clear our concern to Turkey regarding incidents of cross-border firing into areas of Syria under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces. We continue to engage closely with Turkey and other allies, including the US and EU partners, to achieve an outcome in northern Syria which respects Turkish security concerns while allowing for the successful completion of the counter-Daesh campaign.

Arms Trade

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the merits of strengthening the consolidated criteria for the sale of arms products by introducing an end use criteria post sale.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK operates one of the most robust export licensing systems in the world. It considers whether the goods might be used in a way which is inconsistent with the Consolidated EU & National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. We also retain powers to revoke licences, once issued, if circumstances or information available to us change. End user certificates are considered as part of the process already.We believe that our existing system is robust and delivers a high level of assurance. The Government is always looking to see how it can improve its export controls and we are in contact with countries who carry out some limited end use checks to see if there is anything we can learn from their experience.​​

Syria: Abduction

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information her Department holds on the organisations responsible for the kidnap for ransom of (a) aid workers and (b) other representatives of non-governmental organisations operating in Idlib province in Syria.

Alistair Burt: ​A number of armed groups operate in Idlib province, several of which have either engaged in or pose a risk of kidnap for ransom. There remains a very high risk of kidnapping in Idlib and throughout Syria, which can be for financial or political gain. An individual's occupation may not protect them against kidnapping, and many terrorists in Syria view those engaged in humanitarian aid work as legitimate targets. We continue to advise British nationals against travel to Syria and our Travel Advice highlights the very real threat from kidnapping.

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government’s priorities have been for the 51st session of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation, held in Vienna on 5 to 7 November 2018.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK has always strongly supported the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO). Our goal is to see this Treaty enter into force and bring an end to nuclear weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosion. We used the Preparatory Committee to continue conversations on how to continue to best support the CTBTO. We continue to press for ratification by those countries who will bring the Treaty into force (Annex II countries). We continue to support the CTBTO's verification system, which is a unique and immensely important international asset. We have supported the 2019 Budget Update but have also called on all States Signatories in arrears of their assessed contributions to make payments to reduce their arrears as a matter of urgency. We continue to participate in and support both of the CTBTO's working groups.

Ali Salman

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 June 2018 to Question 152848 on Ali Salman, what assessment his Department has made of potential extent of due process violations during the prosecution of the case of Bahraini political opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman.

Alistair Burt: The Rt Hon. member will have seen my statement of 4 November where I expressed my concerns on the further sentencing of Sheikh Ali Salman. I understand that he now has a further opportunity of appeal.  The UK has raised this case at senior levels with the Government of Bahrain. Most recently, I discussed my concerns on the sentencing with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the UK on 5 November. We will continue to closely monitor the case.

Ali Salman

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the validity of the reported statement by the Government of Qatar denying communications with Bahraini political opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman.

Alistair Burt: The Rt Hon. member will have seen my statement of 4 November where I expressed my concerns on the further sentencing of Sheikh Ali Salman. I understand that he now has a further opportunity of appeal.The UK has raised this case at senior levels with the Government of Bahrain. Most recently, I discussed my concerns on the sentencing with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the Court of St James’ on 5 November. We will continue to closely monitor the case as it makes its way through the judicial system. Should we have concerns we will raise them at an appropriately senior level with the Government of Bahrain.It would be inappropriate for me to comment on statements by the State of Qatar concerning the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Venezuela: Politics and Government

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Government of Venezuela in respect of the killing of and assaults made against opposition politicians; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: As I stated in my Chatham House speech on 25 October, we are extremely concerned at the Venezuelan government's continued attacks on opposition politicians, a number of whom have been imprisoned, exiled or stripped of their political rights. The illegal detention of National Assembly MP Juan Requesens and the death of Fernando Alban whilst detained by the Venezuelan Intelligence Service are both particularly disturbing.In October, our Ambassador met the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Jorge Arreaza, and the Vice-Minister for Europe, Yvan Gil, and expressed our concerns. In London, the Head, Latin America Department, FCO, called in the Venezuelan Ambassador to express our concern about Mr Requessens and to urge the Venezuelan government to release all political prisoners.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Trade Agreements

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October to Written Question 179070 on Trade Agreements, if he will publish the international treaties listed under the EU Treaties Office Database that (a) have been superseded, (b) are redundant and (c) are no longer relevant for the UK.

Chris Heaton-Harris: We are committed to maintaining the relationships and cooperation we currently enjoy with third countries and international organisations as we exit the EU. We are seeking to replicate the effects of our international treaties, as far as possible and where relevant, and we are engaging closely with third parties to deliver continuity as we leave the EU.In relation to those international agreements listed under the EU Treaties Office database that have been superseded, are redundant, or no longer relevant to the UK, we have a responsibility not to release information that could hinder our discussions with partner countries. We will continue to keep Parliament updated on the progress of transitioning our treaties in preparation for our exit from the EU.

British Nationals Abroad and EU Nationals: Social Security

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of whether the Withdrawal Agreement maintains the (a) healthcare, (b) welfare, (c) pension and (d) other social security rights of (i) UK citizens living in the EU and (ii) EU citizens living in the UK.

Chris Heaton-Harris: In December 2017, we reached a fair and reciprocal agreement with the EU on the rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK nationals in the EU, and this is set out in the draft Withdrawal Agreement.This agreement will allow EU citizens resident in the UK and UK nationals resident in the EU before the end of the implementation period to continue living their lives broadly as they do now in the countries where they now live. It will enable families who have built their lives together in the EU and the UK to stay together, and it provides certainty that their rights will be maintained, including for residence, healthcare, pensions and other benefits.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Facebook

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what the cost to the public purse was of his Department's Facebook adverts entitled road to brexit since 23 June 2016; whether those adverts were geotargeted; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Department takes seriously its responsibility to communicate the progress of the UK's EU exit with the public. We are committed to doing so in the most effective and accessible ways, including through social media and we use a geographical targeted approach which is optimised to reach the right audience.The Department has incurred expenditure of £37,669 on social media since July 2016. In line with our Freedom of Information returns, the Department reports expenditure on such activity by aggregated amounts, and additional information is published in transparency reports as required.

Government Departments: Disclosure of Information

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November to Question 185803 on Government Departments: Disclosure of Information, for what reasons the Answer did not include the number of non-disclosure agreements his Department has made in relation to preparations for the UK leaving the EU.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Government departments make use of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) when structuring their engagements on preparations for leaving the EU, which is a crucial component of planning. It is for departments to determine the manner in which engagement with stakeholders takes place. Given the sensitive nature of some discussions, there may be limited circumstances in which departments have used NDAs to enable those conversations, thereby reaching more stakeholders than would otherwise be the case.As I said in my previous answer, this department has put a limited number of NDAs in place in the course of its work. The department’s use of NDAs is limited to standard contractual arrangements with those providing services to support our work and are necessary to protect commercial considerations.

Department of Health and Social Care

Organs: Donors

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government plans to ratify and implement the Council of Europe Convention against trafficking in human organs signed on 23 March 2015.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The United Kingdom formally signed the Council of Europe Convention on Organ Trafficking on 25 March 2015 and has legislation in place to ensure consent is always provided to prevent organ trafficking. The Government also supports the 2008 Declaration of Istanbul on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism, which encourages all countries to draw up legal and professional frameworks to govern organ donation and transplantation activities. When the UK signed the convention, it did so on the basis that it reserved the right not to apply the jurisdiction rules laid down in paragraph 1.d and e of Article 10 of the convention. There are no current plans to ratify the convention.

Mental Illness: Parents

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 31 October 2018 to Question 182850 on Mental Illness: Parents, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of collecting (a) such information and (b) information on the effect of such circumstances on the welfare of the children of such patients.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government has not undertaken an assessment of the potential benefits of routinely collecting data about the parental responsibilities of anyone diagnosed with a mental health condition. However, the Government does recognise that parental mental health problems can have an impact on the wellbeing of children within the family and statutory guidance published in July 2018: ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ acknowledges that children may be at greater risk of harm or need additional help in families where adults have mental health problems. The guidance is available at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/729914/Working_Together_to_Safeguard_Children-2018.pdf The guidance makes clear that anyone who has any concerns about a child’s welfare should make a referral to local authority children’s social services. The guidance also makes clear that health practitioners should provide and co-ordinate any specific information regarding family health, including any mental health problems, to support the protection of children.

Tobacco: Licensing

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government plans to introduce licensing laws for the sale of tobacco in England.

Steve Brine: The Government has no plans to introduce licensing laws for the sale of tobacco in England. Earlier this year we introduced legislation providing for the licencing of tobacco products manufacturing machinery.

Smoking: Barnsley

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the statistics from the Smoking Data Guide, published by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council's research and business intelligence team in August 2016, that 21.2 per cent of adults and 10.7 per cent of 15 year olds in Barnsley smoke, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of young adults who smoke.

Steve Brine: The Government has a strong track record of reducing the harm caused by tobacco, based on a comprehensive approach to tobacco control, including bans on smoking in public places, and on promotion and advertising of tobacco products; high duty rates; the provision of smoking cessation services; and social marketing campaigns. The Government will maintain this comprehensive approach. The Government’s Tobacco Control Plan for England, published last year, commits to reducing smoking in 15 year olds from 8% in 2017 to 3% in 2022 and the Tobacco Control Delivery Plan, published in June 2018 sets out the various activities different agencies are taking to meet the aims of the plan.

NHS: Bullying and Harassment

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle allegations of bullying and harassment of staff in the NHS and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Barclay: The Government is committed to supporting National Health Service organisations in their responsibility for tackling allegations of bullying and harassment of staff in the NHS, having committed to this in its manifesto. The national Social Partnership Forum (SPF) chaired by Departmental ministers, has been leading a ‘Collective Call to Action’ campaign aimed at achieving leadership and cultural change to tackle bullying; supporting staff to respectfully challenge problem behaviours; and encouraging organisations to publish their plans and progress so staff, patients and the public can hold them to account. This will build on the wide range of advice, guidance and good practice available to employers which can be found at the following link: https://www.nhsemployers.org/your-workforce/retain-and-improve/staff-experience/tackling-bullying-in-the-nhs

Rare Diseases: Drugs

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 4.12 the UK Rare Diseases Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of whether the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Single Technology Appraisal Programme meets the ambition of suitability for assessing rare disease treatments.

Steve Brine: Where a company is willing to set a fair price for a drug, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal process has been proven to be suitable for the assessment of drugs for rare diseases. NICE has been able to recommend a number of drugs for patients with rare diseases through its technology appraisal programme; recent examples include dinutuximab beta for neuroblastoma and daratumumab for relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. With the aim of improving the lives of all those affected by a rare disease, the United Kingdom Government published the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases in 2013, a high-level framework containing 51 commitments which sets out a seven-year strategic vision (2013-2020). The Government is committed to implementing the Strategy’s commitments and has, in January 2018, published Implementation Plans setting out its actions for England.

Health Services: Chelmsford Prison

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2018 to Question 183583 on Health Service: Prisons, whether the Under-Secretary of State for Health met healthcare professionals on her visits to HMP Chelmsford.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October to Question 183513 on Health Services: Prisons, where the Under-Secretary of State for Health met the providers who are responsible for healthcare services at HMP Liverpool.

Jackie Doyle-Price: I met with the Head of Healthcare and other healthcare professionals on my visit to HMP Chelmsford. During my visit to Ashworth High Security Hospital earlier this year I met with providers responsible for delivering healthcare services at HMP Liverpool.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report entitled Fair funding for mental health: Putting parity into practice, published by the Institute for Public Policy Research in October 2018, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his Department's policies of the finding in that report on the additional funding required for mental health care.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government recognises the need for additional investment in mental health services and the Institute for Public Policy Research report represents a valuable contribution to the debate. The Government announced its long term financial settlement for the National Health Service in June. This will represent an increase of £20.5 billion in real terms by 2023/24. The Government has asked the NHS to develop a long term plan which will set out a vision for the health service and ensure every penny is well spent. The Government has been clear that better access to mental health services, to help achieve the Government’s commitment to parity of esteem between mental and physical health, is one of the principles which must underpin the plan. The 2018 Budget set out some of aspects of what the long term plan will contain, and further details will follow when the plan is published in due course.

Eating Disorders

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many adult (a) male and (b) female inpatient facilities are available for the treatment of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder and other specified feeding or eating disorders in (i) Lancashire and (ii) England.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England commissions 415 specialised adult eating disorder beds across England, 42 of which are in the North West: 10 in Preston, 18 in Cheadle and 14 within the Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Data on the number of male and female beds is not collected.

Mental Health Services: Schools

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the announcement in Budget 2018, what his Department's timescale is for implementing school-based mental health support teams; and by what date he plans for mental health support teams to be extended across the country.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Work on developing mental health support teams for schools forms part of the work to implement the proposals set out in the Green Paper, ‘Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision’. The first wave of recruitment for the Educational Mental Health Practitioners who will form part of these teams is now under way and 210 people will take their places on specialist training courses from January 2019. These trainees will start working in schools during 2019. The initial local areas, or trailblazer sites, that will trial the Green Paper proposals will be announced by the end of the year. As stated in the Green Paper, we plan to roll out the teams to between a fifth and a quarter of the country by 2022/23.

Mental Health Services: Schools

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the number of additional (a) child and adolescent psychiatrists, (b) psychotherapists and (c) mental health nurses that will be required to deliver school-based mental health support teams throughout England.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We are setting up new Mental Health Support Teams to deliver mental health interventions for those with mild to moderate needs in or close to schools and colleges, referring those with more severe needs on to specialist services. The teams will support and join up with existing professionals such as educational psychologists, school nurses and health visitors. We expect the teams to comprise a mix of more junior and more senior staff; there will be funding available to support the teams and will also support the cost of supervision from qualified staff in National Health Service children’s mental health services. There will also be a new role, Educational Mental Health Practitioner, with the recruitment for this role currently underway and 210 places available across the country. There are no ready-made answers about the overall make-up of teams and how they should operate, and we are clear that we do not want to impose a model that does not take account of the existing local context. It will therefore be important to design national roll-out on the basis of the experience from the trailblazer programme. The trailblazer sites will be announced shortly.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 5.10 of the Budget 2018 Red Book, what the (a) composition and (b) structure will be of the children and young people’s mental health crisis teams.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We are not currently able to provide the details requested about the composition and structure of the children and young people’s mental health crisis teams. The Government has asked the National Health Service to develop a long-term plan which will set out a vision for the health service and we have been clear that better access to mental health services, to help achieve the Government’s commitment to parity of esteem between mental and physical health, is one of the principles which must underpin the plan. The 2018 Budget set out some aspects of what the long-term plan will contain, and further details will follow when the plan is published.

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what contingency planning has been undertaken by his Department to ensure the maintenance of reciprocal health care arrangements between the UK and the EU in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Stephen Barclay: On Friday 26 October, the Government introduced The Healthcare (International Arrangements) Bill which will provide the Government with the powers that are needed to fund and effectively implement arrangements for United Kingdom nationals to obtain healthcare abroad after the UK exits the European Union. The Bill is part of the Government’s preparations for EU Exit and will ensure that whatever the outcome of EU Exit, we can take the necessary steps to continue reciprocal healthcare arrangements or otherwise support UK residents to obtain healthcare when they move to or visit the EU.

Prisons: Health Services

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many prisons have (a) healthcare and (b) drug rehabilitation and care services provided by private healthcare providers.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many prisons have (a) healthcare and (b) drug rehabilitation and care services provided by NHS healthcare providers.

Jackie Doyle-Price: This information is not available in the format requested.

Female Genital Mutilation

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that Primary Care practices have the ability to submit securely information on patients that have been subjected to female genital mutilation to the statutory database.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Female Genital Mutilation Enhanced Dataset is collected via the NHS Digital Clinical Audit Platform or CAP, which is an easy to use, intuitive, data submission tool that needs no specific training. NHS Digital has published clear guidance online to support National Health Service organisations, including primary care practices, to register to access CAP and to submit information on the system. In 2017, the process was simplified and streamlined to further support primary care practices to register on the CAP, and it was confirmed that the Senior Partner or Caldicott Guardian at a practice can submit the registration to access CAP.

Healthy Start Scheme

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the public consultation on Healthy Start vouchers.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We are considering a range of options for consulting on Healthy Start vouchers. This will take place shortly.

Health Services: Finance

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on including age as a criterion for decisions on health funding.

Stephen Barclay: At a national level, demographic projections including the effect of ageing feed into projections for demand growth, which inform decisions on National Health Service funding. The allocation of funding to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) is informed by the estimation of the relative health needs of local areas, based on a formula. The formula is based on independent academic research and includes the factors statistically associated with higher or lower need per head for NHS services. The funding formula is based on the expected size of the population of each CCG and adjustments, or weights, per head for relative need for health care services and unavoidable costs between CCGs.

Eating Disorders

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government plans to accept all of the recommendations in the independent Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report, Ignoring the alarms: how NHS eating disorder services are failing patients.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government takes seriously the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report ‘Ignoring the alarms: how NHS eating disorder services are failing patients’. In response to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report, NHS England has convened a working group with NHS Improvement, Health Education England, the Department and other partners to co-ordinate actions being taken in response to the recommendations, taking them into account in planning for improvements to adult eating disorder services. The national clinical director for mental health at NHS England, Professor Tim Kendall, is chairing this working group and progress will be reported to the NHS England Board.

Childbirth

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of premature births in (a) England, (b) London and (c) the London Borough of Lewisham in each of the last five years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Data for the number of premature births in England, London and the London Borough of Lewisham is not collected centrally.

Childbirth

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made any recent estimate of the average amount of time premature babies spend in neonatal units.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The following table shows the average amount of time spent in neonatal units for babies born before 37 weeks’ gestation in 2015, the latest year for which information is currently available. Gestation at birthAverage length of stay (days)Before and up to 27 weeks9328-31 weeks4432-36 weeks13

NHS: Drugs

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to extend the expiration date of medicines to reduce waste; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Any change to the expiry date of a medicine requires an independent review of the stability study by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) or the European Medicine Agency in consultation with the MHRA. The MHRA is the Government agency responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work and are acceptably safe. Companies can and often do extend the shelf life of their medicines once the product is on the market and additional stability data become available. The MHRA is not able to insist on lengthy shelf lives considering the time needed to complete stability studies as to do so would create additional delays with bringing new medicines to the market. It is not possible however to extend the expiry date of all medicines unilaterally in the absence of supporting stability data.

Knee Replacements

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of elective knee replacement surgery has been outsourced to the private sector in the last three years.

Stephen Barclay: The proportion of elective knee replacement operations which have been commissioned by the National Health Service from the private sector in the last three years is shown in the following table. Figures represent the number of operations – not the number of patients – as some patients may have more than one operation. Financial yearProportion Carried out by Private Providers2015-1638%2016-1742%2017-1844%

General Practitioners: Vacancies

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the role of nurse practitioners in filling shortages of General Practitioners.

Steve Brine: In 2017, Professor Jane Cummings, the Chief Nursing Officer for England announced a career development programme was being developed for General Practice Nurses (GPNs). This programme took the form of an ‘action plan’ to recognise and develop the GPN role in transforming care and helping to deliver the National Health Service plan. The plan was published in 2017 and entitled The GPN 10 Point Plan. The GPN 10 Point plan uses an investment of £15 million from the GP Forward View funding allocation to support actions which will address the significant workforce challenges and support improvements in general practice nursing by 2020. Getting the skills mix right in general practice is critical in addressing workload pressures as well as in delivering appropriate patient care. This will mean bigger teams of staff, including nurse practitioners providing a wider range of care options for patients and freeing up more time for general practitioners to focus on those with more complex needs.

Cancer: Health Services

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps through the new long-term NHS plan to (a) support people throughout and (b) improve their experience of (i) treatment and (ii) living with cancer.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to support Cancer Alliances to continue delivering elements of the recovery package to improve long-term support for people who have had cancer.

Steve Brine: The NHS Long Term Plan provides an excellent opportunity to look at how cancer and other services can be further improved over the next decade. The plan is currently in development and will be published later in the year. The independent Cancer Taskforce identified establishing patient experience on a par with clinical effectiveness and safety and transforming our approach to support people living with and beyond cancer as strategic priorities in the report ‘Achieving World-class Cancer Outcomes: A Strategy for England, 2015-2020’. In December 2016, NHS England announced a fund of over £200 million available to Cancer Alliances over the next two years, specifically to support those areas of the strategy that they estimated would need significant investment, including to help patients living with and beyond cancer. As part of that programme of work, the Recovery Package is being commissioned and delivered in full or in part by many clinical commissioning groups and providers across England. NHS England’s aim is to accelerate the process to ensure full implementation by 2020 so the package will be available to all cancer patients across the country regardless of location. Alongside this, NHS England is building up a picture of current provision to help target future work to support rollout.

Health Services: Learning Disability

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that NHS Doctors receive adequate training on learning disabilities.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that NHS Staff receive adequate training on learning disabilities.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with a learning disability have a role in the (a) development and (b) delivery of training for NHS doctors and nurses.

Caroline Dinenage: Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 there is a statutory responsibility on providers of health services to provide sufficient numbers of appropriately qualified, competent, skilled and experienced staff to meet the needs of the people using health services, including those with a learning disability. The Learning Disability Core Skills Education and Training Framework, published in July 2016 sets out the requisite skills and competencies that staff need to deliver care and support to people with a learning disability. The Framework sets out the necessary skills across three tiers. Tier 1, knowledge for roles that require general awareness of learning disabilities; Tier 2, knowledge and skills for roles that will have some regular contact with people with a learning disability and Tier 3, knowledge and skills for those providing care and support for people with a learning disability. Training should be provided in line with this Framework. Health Education England (HEE) is currently producing eLearning materials to support Tier 1 learning disability awareness training. This free online training will be available to all staff in 2019. HEE also uses a workforce development fund to support the ongoing development of staff, with spending focused on priority areas, including staff working with people with learning disabilities and or autism. All nurses receive learning disabilities training as part of their pre-registration education. Curricula are set by individual education providers, to standards set by the professional regulators. Since April 2015, newly appointed health care assistants, including those who will provide care and support to people with learning disability have been undergoing training as part of the national implementation of the Care Certificate. The Care Certificate equips new staff with the knowledge and skills which they need to provide safe, compassionate care across a range of areas, including the care of people with a learning disability. Medical education and training includes developing understanding of, and competency in, supporting people with a learning disability, as required in the curricula for medical training approved by the General Medical Council. In the Government’s response to the learning disabilities mortality review programme report, which we published on 12 September 2018, the Department and its partner organisations committed to a series of actions to increase uptake of learning disability training, including a commitment to consult on mandatory learning disability training for health and care staff, which will conclude by the end of March 2019. The Department is in the process of developing the consultation proposals, and are working with key stakeholders, including people with learning disabilities and autism and the groups that represent them, to shape the consultation proposals, including on how training would be delivered, and to identify the key questions to ask.

Cancer

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the decision on the future of the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey in relation to the National Data Guardian opt-out beyond 2018.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of enabling the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey to be exemption from the national data guardian opt out after 2018.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We are giving careful consideration to the application of the national data opt-out to the national cancer patient experience survey as stated in the Government’s response to the National Data Guardian Review July 2017 and other national patient experience surveys. This includes looking at the potential advantages and disadvantages of the national data opt-out not applying to these surveys beyond 2018/19. In spring 2018 we confirmed that for 2018/2019 the national data opt-out would not be applied to the national cancer patient experience survey and other patient experience surveys. A decision regarding application of the national data opt-out to these surveys beyond 2018/19 will be communicated in due course.

Nurses: Travel

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of student nurses experiencing financial hardship as a result of travel costs incurred during training placements.

Stephen Barclay: Information on the numbers of students who apply to universities for financial assistance during their studies is not held centrally by the Department.

Influenza: Vaccination

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many flu vaccines were distributed free of charge to (a) 65-year-olds and over and (b) at-risk groups in the last five years; and how many vaccines are planned for distribution in (i) 2018 and (ii) 2019.

Steve Brine: Data on the number of flu vaccines distributed in the last five years are not available in the format requested. Data on the number of vaccines planned for distribution are also not available in the format requested.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in the level of funding for (a) Sure Start centres, (b) youth centres and (c) other universal services on trends in the level of demand for NHS mental health services.

Jackie Doyle-Price: No formal assessment has been made.

Mental Health Services: Staff

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS staff who work in (a) adult and (b) child and adolescent mental health services have cited stress as the reason for taking time off from work in each year since 2010.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS staff who work in Accident and Emergency services have cited stress as the reason for taking time off from work in each year since 2010.

Stephen Barclay: This information is not available in the format requested.

Department for International Development

South Sudan: Sexual Offences

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2018 to Question 176532 on South Sudan: sexual offences, what steps her Department is taking to encourage aid workers in South Sudan to report sexual violence.

Harriett Baldwin: The Department for International Development is working to improve safeguarding standards across the aid sector. We have recently written to all of our partners to remind them of their responsibility to provide their own mechanisms for reporting and investigating suspicions and/or allegations of sexual violence. Wherever these relate to a DFID programme we also expect that our partners report those to us in a timely manner. DFID’s specialist team will then provide oversight of the investigatory response to ensure it meets our standards, providing dedicated support as required. We urge all survivors of sexual violence in South Sudan, including aid workers, to report the harm committed against them.

Overseas Aid: Children

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has allocated from its international aid budget to protecting children from violence in each of the last ten financial years.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID provides significant support to protect children from violence around the world in both development and humanitarian contexts. Funding is delivered directly through child protection programming, as well as through wider education, nutrition, health, economic development and social protection programming. Current examples of support include providing £5 million to the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children that is driving international progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 16.2 and on which the Secretary of State is a board member, £26 million to a Regional Programme in Asia targeting the worst forms of child labour and £29.7 million to Education Cannot Wait, a global fund for education in emergencies which has protection at its centre. There are currently no codes or markers within the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) database that allow for the systematic identification and tracking of all spending on protecting children from violence. World Vision International is currently working with DFID, alongside other development partners, civil society and the DAC to explore whether a new process for identifying donor spend on violence against children can be agreed.

Palestinians: Politics and Government

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to her Department's Memorandum of Understanding with the Palestinian Authority (PA), what assessment she has made of President Abbas's remarks to the Palestinian Central Council on 28/10/18 that the salaries of our martyrs, prisoners, and wounded are a red line and the martyrs and their families are sacred. We will continue to pay to the wounded and the prisoners. Even if we have one plaster left, it will be for them, and not for the living.

Alistair Burt: Whilst prisoners and their families have a right to support in line with their social needs as they would in the UK, we want the system to be more transparent, affordable and needs based to make sure the payments cover only prisoners’ and their families’ needs. We continue to use our strong partnership with the Palestinian Authority (PA) to press for reform of the prisoner payment system.

Venezuela: Refugees

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support her Department is providing to countries neighbouring Venezuela that are hosting refugees from that country.

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with her EU and UN counterparts on providing humanitarian relief to Venezuelans in that country and in neighbouring countries.

Alistair Burt: DFID has deployed two humanitarian experts and funded additional roles for UN agencies in the region. The UK is also supporting the international response through core funding to the UN, humanitarian agencies, the European Commission and Red Cross movements. The UK continues to urge the Venezuelan Government to accept humanitarian aid and DFID is supporting the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s efforts to urge Venezuela to meet their population’s needs.

Department for Education

Schools: Finance

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to publish the block allocation for individual maintained schools and academies for 2018-19.

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason the school block allocations are being released later than October in the school year.

Nick Gibb: Pre-16 maintained school and academy allocations are published each financial year for all maintained schools and academies.The Department intends to publish the 2018-9 allocations shortly.The publication does not have a set date and has been published in November previously.

Sixth Form Education: Finance

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans next to increase the national funding rate for sixth form students.

Anne Milton: We have protected the base rate of funding for 16 to 19 year olds for all types of providers until the end of the current spending review period in 2020. As with other areas of departmental spending, 16 to 19 funding for subsequent years will be agreed as part of the next Spending Review.

Sixth Form Education: Finance

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans to increase the national funding rate for sixth form students.

Anne Milton: We have protected the base rate of funding for 16 to 19 year olds for all types of providers until the end of the current spending review period in 2020. As with other areas of departmental spending, 16 to 19 funding for subsequent years will be agreed as part of the next Spending Review.

Refugees: Children

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support his Department provides for unaccompanied child refugees when they arrive in the UK.

Nadhim Zahawi: Local authorities are under a statutory obligation to provide accommodation for unaccompanied children who arrive in their area. This means that they become looked after children and should be safeguarded and have their welfare promoted in the same way as any other looked after child. To help support this, the government has revised the ‘Statutory guidance on the care of unaccompanied migrant children and child victims of modern slavery’, which was published 1 November 2017: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-of-unaccompanied-and-trafficked-children.The government recognises that unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children can be some of the most vulnerable in our society. The government’s vision and additional commitment to caring for these children is set out in the strategy for ‘Safeguarding unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children’, published 1 November 2017: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safeguarding-unaccompanied-asylum-seeking-and-refugee-children.

World War I: Anniversaries

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what financial support he has made available to schools for the commemoration of the centenary of Armistice Day.

Nick Gibb: The Department has invested an extra £1.3 billion into core schools funding across 2018-19 and 2019-20, which is an increase from the plans set out in the last Spending Review. Core funding for schools and high needs has risen from almost £41 billion in 2017-18 to £42.4 billion this year and will rise further to £43.5 billion in 2019-20. The Department allows head teachers to use their funding in a way they feel achieves the best outcomes for pupils. From 2013 to March 2019, the Department is providing £5.3 million for pupils and teachers from state-funded secondary schools in England to participate in battlefield tours of the Western Front. The Department is also funding a series of roadshows from 2016 to December 2018, to enable pupils to debate the causes, conduct and consequences of World War I with a panel of experts. Moreover, in the recent Budget the Government committed a further £1million for 2019-20 for further World War I battlefield visits for school students to mark the centenary of World War I Armistice and the sacrifices made.

Financial Services: Education

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department provides to (a) primary and (b) secondary schools on the amount of financial education that should be provided to students.

Nick Gibb: In 2014 financial literacy was made statutory within the national curriculum as part of the citizenship curriculum for 11 to 16 year olds. Pupils are taught the functions and uses of money, the importance of personal budgeting, money management and the need to understand financial risk. The Department has introduced a rigorous new mathematics curriculum, which provides young people with the knowledge and financial skills to make important financial decisions. The Government has published statutory programmes of study for mathematics and citizenship that outline what pupils should learn about financial education from Key Stages 1-4. The Department trusts schools to use their professional judgement and understanding of their pupils to develop the right teaching approach for their particular school, drawing on the expertise of subject associations and organisations such as Young Money.

Children: Social Services

Karen Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of  the potential merits of reinstating the Commissioning Support Programme; and whether his Department plans to develop an improved programme to support children’s services commissioners.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department currently has no plans to reinstate the Commissioning Support Programme.We are providing funding through our £200 million Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme to test new commissioning arrangements so that children and young people are matched to the right care placements to meet their needs.We are developing central commissioning arrangements for secure children’s homes placements and will be providing seed funding for fostering partnerships to introduce new or expanded collaborative approaches for commissioning, sufficiency planning and integrated models of care.We have set up a Residential Care Leadership Board to drive forward improvements in commissioning and share learning and best practice across the sector.

Children: Social Services

Karen Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of (a) the effectiveness of the team around the child approach in children’s services provision and (b) whether that approach should be the default for children’s social care providers.

Nadhim Zahawi: We have not assessed the team around the child approach, however some models of help and protection have been evaluated by the Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme (CSCIP), which found that the use of multi-disciplinary skill sets in supporting children and families was a key feature of successful projects. The evaluation of Project Crewe demonstrated early promise through their use of family practitioners to lead multi-agency support under the supervision of a social worker. This model is being tested further by Coventry City Council under the CSCIP round three.Statutory guidance, ‘Working together to safeguard children 2018’: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children--2, makes clear that when it comes to early help, children and families may benefit from co-ordinated support from local agencies, and it is right that organisations work together to assess the need for support, and provide targeted services that improve the outcomes for children.

Schools: Yorkshire and the Humber

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the announcement in Budget 2018, how much of the £400 million capital payment to schools will be allocated to schools in (a) Barnsley, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) Yorkshire and the Humber.

Nick Gibb: The Department is allocating an additional £400 million capital funding to schools in 2018-19. This funding is in addition to the £1.4 billion of condition allocations already provided this year to those responsible for maintaining school buildings. A calculation tool will be published by December that will enable schools to estimate their own allocation. The Department plans to publish the final allocations for all schools in England in January and expects an average size primary school to receive £10,000 and an average size secondary school to receive £50,000. The additional funding will be allocated to: maintained nurseries, primary and secondary schools, academies and free schools, special schools, pupil referral units, non-maintained special schools, sixth-form colleges, and special post-16 institutions that have eligible state-funded pupils.

Teachers: Qualifications

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many unqualified teachers work in schools in (a) Dulwich and West Norwood, (b) London and (c) England.

Nick Gibb: The following table provides the full-time equivalent (FTE) number of unqualified[1] and qualified teachers in service in state funded schools in Dulwich and West Norwood parliamentary constituency, London region and England, as at November 2017.Full-time equivalent (FTE) number of unqualified and qualified teachers in service in state funded schools in Dulwich and West Norwood parliamentary constituency, London region and England, as at November 2017  Unqualified FTE Teachers[2]Qualified FTE TeachersDulwich and West Norwood60860London[3]5,17069,560England21,040430,830Source: School Workforce Census   [1] An unqualified teacher in the LA maintained sector is either a trainee working towards QTS; an overseas trained teacher who has not exceeded the four years they are allowed to teach without having QTS; or an instructor who has a particular skill who can be employed for so long as a qualified teacher is not available. [2] Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10 teachers. [3] Figures for London exclude 11 out of 2,595 schools that did not provide a return for teachers.

Teachers: Qualifications

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of teaching staff are unqualified in (a) maintained state, (b) academy and (c) free schools.

Nick Gibb: The following table provides the full-time equivalent (FTE) teacher numbers and proportion of unqualified teachers in service in (a) maintained state schools, (b) academies, (c) free schools and England, as at November 2017.Full-time equivalent (FTE) teacher numbers and proportion of unqualified[1] teachers in service in maintained state schools, academies, and free schools and England, November 2017 FTE Unqualified Teachers (000’s)FTE Qualified and Unqualified Teachers (000’s)FTE Unqualified (%)Maintained State Schools[2]8.6235.93.6Academies11.9210.05.7Free Schools0.66.09.2Total All Schools21.0451.94.7Source: School Workforce CensusThe numbers are publicly available in table 3a within the publication ‘School Workforce in England, November 2017’, available at the following web link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2017.  [1] An unqualified teacher in the LA maintained sector is either a trainee working towards QTS; an overseas trained teacher who has not exceeded the four years they are allowed to teach without having QTS; or an instructor who has a particular skill who can be employed for so long as a qualified teacher is not available. [2] Includes Centrally Employed.

Teachers: Greater London

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students in London schools have been taught by unqualified teachers in each year since 2012.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not held centrally. The Department collects pupil numbers from the pupil census ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ and teacher numbers from the School Workforce Census ‘School Workforce in England’, but does not hold information on what pupils were taught by which teachers, qualified or unqualified.

Training

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress has been made in producing a unified framework of employability skills as agreed to in the Government’s response to the Taylor review of modern working practices.

Anne Milton: We have developed guidance for T level panels, including an employability skills framework, to ensure a consistent approach to integrating employability skills in T levels. As part of the government response to the Taylor review, we have committed to publish the guidance in due course. Through this, a framework will be made openly available for other organisations (such as employers and higher education providers, where successful frameworks are already in use) to use if they wish.

Universities: Admissions

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to support the 17 universities with a decline in student numbers of more than 10 per cent since 2012.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to protect students at universities on the brink of bankruptcy.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps he has taken to ensure the financial sustainability of universities.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions (a) he and (b) the Minister responsible for higher education has had with the Office for Students on universities that have experienced a decline in student numbers of more than 10 per cent since 2012.

Mr Sam Gyimah: ​In the new higher education (HE) regulatory framework, the Office for Students (OfS) has responsibilities to monitor and assess the financial viability of registered providers. In this work, the OfS as regulator, rather than the department, takes into account the individual circumstances of each provider applying to be on the new register of publicly-funded providers. It will therefore have taken into account the financial viability and individual circumstances of the twelve English universities that have experienced a decline in student numbers of more than 10 per cent since 2012. We have also given the OfS powers to ensure that registered providers have plans in place to protect their students, via appropriately constructed student protection plans. Where the OfS identifies particular risks to a provider’s financial sustainability, the student protection plan may need to be strengthened in a tailored way before it can be agreed. The requirement by the OfS that all registered providers have a student protection plan means that for the first time in the higher education sector there will be a consistent sector-wide approach to student protection arrangements. It is the responsibility of Vice-Chancellors and HE provider leaders to ensure their institutions are financially viable. We will not prop up failing providers. ​I meet regularly with the Chair and Chief Executive of the OfS to discuss the full range of issues relevant to the higher education sector. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State also has similar meetings.

Confederation of British Industry: Annual Reports

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions his officials have had with the CBI on the content of that organisation's education and skills annual report published this month.

Anne Milton: My officials have not discussed the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) education and skills annual report with the CBI. We are aware of the need to deliver a national policy that is effective and delivers the cultural change in adult skills that is needed. That is why the National Retraining Scheme is being driven by a key partnership between the CBI, Trade Union Congress and government who are working together to develop a national policy that will genuinely make a difference.We have also recently published findings from our Employer Skills Survey, which interviewed over 87,000 employers about their skills needs and challenges: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employer-skills-survey-2017-uk-report. The survey findings will inform various Department for Education policies including the science, technology, engineering and mathematics strategy.

Pupil Exclusions: Hyperactivity

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the number of children with ADHD that have been excluded from school in the last 12 months.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not held centrally.

Teachers: Pay

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his Department holds on the number of teachers on the (a) main, (b) upper, and (c) leadership pay scales at school level.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universities: Bankruptcy

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to reports in the i newspaper of 1 November 2018 that three universities are on the brink of bankruptcy, what recent discussions (a) he or (b) the Minister for Universities has had with the Office for Students on the financial sustainability of the university sector.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of higher education institutions at risk of insolvency in the next three years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: I refer the hon. Member for Blackpool South to the answer I gave on 12 November to Question 188033.

Foreign Students

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many British students have left the country to study at universities in (a) the EU and (b) the rest of the world in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) collect and publish the number of British students studying wholly overseas. Tertiary education is defined as International Standard Classification of Education levels 5-8. This information can be found in the attached table.In addition ERASMUS collect and publish further information on the number of students studying overseas as part of their studies at their UK university.http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/about/statistics_en. 



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Primary Education: National Curriculum Tests

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of SATs testing in primary schools on the mental health and well being of children.

Nick Gibb: Statutory assessments at Key Stages 1 and 2 are an essential part of ensuring that children master the basics of reading, writing and mathematics which are key to succeeding at secondary school and in later life. They help teachers understand how their pupils are performing against national expectations and enable them to identify where extra support may be needed. Statutory assessments also allows schools to be held to high standards and ensures that they offer a high quality education to all pupils. National curriculum tests undergo a robust three-year development process, taking account of pupils’ experiences of the tests through large-scale representative trialling and review by teachers, head teachers and assessment and inclusion experts.Statutory assessments are not meant to cause stress and anxiety to pupils. Schools should encourage all pupils to work hard and achieve well. The Department trusts teachers to administer them in a proportionate way that does not put undue pressure on pupils, and certainly not at the expense of their wellbeing. Schools should provide continuous and appropriate support as part of a whole school approach to supporting the wellbeing and resilience of pupils. The Department encourages schools to ensure that any pupil experiencing high levels of stress speaks to their teachers or school counsellors.

Pre-school Education

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of children in each local authority that are in the lowest 20 percent for attainment nationally in the Early Years Foundation Stage in each of the last three years.

Nadhim Zahawi: The requested data can be found within the attached file. 



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Further Education: Finance

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with the Chief Inspector of OFSTED on the financial sustainability of the further education sector.

Anne Milton: There have been no substantial discussions between my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, or other ministers, and the Chief Inspector of Ofsted on the financial sustainability of the further education sector.We have been working to improve the financial resilience of the further education sector. We have already invested over £330 million to support college restructuring following the area review process. We are now considering the final applications for restructuring support, and expect the final figure to rise significantly before the programme ends next year.

Higher Education

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has plans to respond to the recommendations of the project on flexible learning published by the CBI and Universities UK on 26 October 2018.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Review of Post-18 Education and Funding is considering how to further encourage learning that is more flexible, like part-time, distance learning and commuter study options. We do not plan to respond specifically to the recommendations of the CBI and Universities UK project.We know that studying part-time and later in life can bring considerable benefits for individuals, employers and the wider economy.We have already adopted a number of measures to support part-time students. This academic year, for example, part-time students will – for the first time ever – be able to access full-time equivalent maintenance loans.The Office for Students also targets an element of the Teaching Grant to recognise the additional costs of part-time study. In 2017/18 £72 million was made available, and the same amount was allocated in 2018/19 for this purpose.The government launched a review of Level 4–5 education in October 2017 to examine how classroom-based level 4 and 5 education, particularly technical education, meets the needs of learners and employers. The Level 4–5 review and the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding will work closely together to ensure a coherent vision for Further and Higher Education.

Ministry of Justice

G4S: Public and Commercial Services Union

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the decision by G4S to refuse to recognise the PCS Union on the terms and conditions of employment of those employed by G4S in the justice sector.

Edward Argar: The contract referred to is for facilities management services provided to the MOJ and it is my understanding that, in fact, G4S are currently at an advanced stage of discussions with the PCS on a formal recognition agreement.For such contracts, service providers are expected to observe Cabinet Office Guidance that "service providers should actively communicate and, where appropriate, seek to build good relations with trade unions".

Prisons: Visits

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the number of closed-contact visits in prisons to prevent smuggling.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the merits of using video technology to allow relatives and friends to speak to convicted prisoners at appointed times.

Rory Stewart: Visits play an important part of reducing reoffending as good relationships with family and friends is proved to reduce risk of reoffending.The management and guidance for the use of closed visits is within Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 15/2011. The PSI specifies that closed visits should be imposed where there is an identified risk of smuggling prohibited items.We recognise the benefits that Internet Based Video Services (IBVS) can provide in assisting prisoners with maintaining family ties. At present, however, prisoners are not allowed to use an IBVS as a way of communicating, due to operational concerns about the control measures available to safeguard the use of such communications. Work is currently underway to explore the options for the use of IBVS in establishments with strict safeguards in place, and the possibility of making greater use of such within prisons in the near future.

Criminal Cases Review Commission: Applications

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of applicants to the Criminal Cases Review Commission have had legal representation to assist them with their applications in each year since 2010.

Lucy Frazer: The proportion of applicants that had legal representation to assist them in their applications to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), since 2010, is outlined in the table below. Year% Applicants2010-1127.11% (253 out of 933 applications received)2011-1229.80% (310 out of 1,040)2012-1325.66% (417 out of 1,625)2013-1420.88% (307 out of 1,470)2014-1513.63% (218 out of 1,599)2015-1615.00% (222 out of 1,480)2016-1714.54% (203 out of 1,397)2017-1812.71% (183 out of 1,439)

Ministry of Justice: Capital Investment

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total additional funding allocated to his Department for capital expenditure in Budget 2018 was.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total additional funding allocated to his Department for resource expenditure in Budget 2018 was.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what changes have been made to his Department's capital expenditure plans as a result of Budget 2018.

Rory Stewart: In Budget 2018, the Ministry of Justice received £52m additional funding, for which the allocation between resource and capital will be confirmed within the Supplementary Estimate. This will fund £30m of further improvements to safety, security and decency, £15 million on the maintenance and security of our court buildings, and another £6.5 million to be invested across the wider justice system, including a further £1.5 million for the Parole Board to boost its operational capacity. The Treasury have also committed to funding the cost of building a new prison at Glen Parva in Leicestershire.

Women's Centres

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the number places in residential women's centres  that were funded by the Government in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: The publication of the female offender strategy on 27 June is the start of a new and significant programme of work to deliver better outcomes for female offenders at all points of the justice system. It sets out our vision to see fewer women in custody, especially on short-term sentences, and a greater proportion of women managed in the community successfully. Our vision for the ‘residential women’s centres’ pilot is the provision of an intensive residential support package in the community for women at risk of, or having served, short custodial sentences. The intention is to divert them from custody where appropriate and support them to address the underlying causes of their offending behaviour. We are not aware of any past or existing provision that fully accords with this, therefore we are unable to provide any information about how many places in women’s residential centres were funded by the Government in each year since 2010. However, there are several similar small-scale models such as Willowdene Farm, Anawim and Threshold Housing First, whose experiences and knowledge will be used to inform the work undertaken in the residential women’s centres pilot.

Ministry of Justice: Contracts

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Secretary of State launches dedicated strategy to 'break the cycle' of female offending, published on 27 June 2018, how many of the bids received by his Department for the £3.5m grant competition for community services and multi-agency, whole system approaches have come from companies and organisations that are currently under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office for overcharging his Department.

Rory Stewart: The Serious Fraud Office is an independent Government organisation and as such the MoJ is not necessarily informed of ongoing investigations and has no control over any investigations or timescales of such It would not be appropriate for the MoJ to comment on any ongoing investigation by the Serious Fraud office or to prejudge any potential outcome in any award decisions as such activities are subject to the Public Contracts Regulations and are published in accordance with standard practice. Since January 2011 details of central government contracts above the value of £10,000, including details of suppliers to whom contracts have been awarded, are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts published prior to 26 February 2015 can be viewed at: https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive Those published after 26 February 2015 can be viewed at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search

Prisoners: Females

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the number of women who do not disclose that they have a dependant child before they receive a custodial sentence.

Edward Argar: Our Female Offender Strategy is committed to improving outcomes for women at all stages of the justice system, and this includes supporting those who have children. We know that female prisoners are more likely than male prisoners to be a primary carer and imprisoned mothers are more likely to be living with their children prior to custody – around 60% of women compared with about 45% of men in prison who have children. Figures from a 2015 data matching exercise with the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Work and Pensions showed that between 24% and 31% of all female offenders were estimated to have one or more child dependents.We know that when coming into contact with the criminal justice system, some women choose not to disclose that they have dependent children for a number of reasons. As such, iIt is difficult to create an accurate estimate of the number of women who choose not to disclose and to provide appropriate targeted support. However, we want all women to feel safe enough to disclose and are taking steps to encourage this, as outlined below. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring that the National Probation Service’s pre-sentence reports, which assist the court in making sentencing decisions, highlight the fact an offender has dependent children and supporting the roll out of the ‘Safeguarding Children When Sentencing Mothers’ training material developed by Dr Shona Minson.

Criminal Cases Review Commission

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many requests made under section 17 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 by the Criminal Cases Review Commission were refused by each category of public body in 2017.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions judicial review proceedings have been brought by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) against a public body which has refused a request of the CCRC for information under Section 17 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 in each year since 2010.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions have Crown Court Orders obtained under Section 18A of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 not been complied with in each year since 2010.

Lucy Frazer: No requests for information, made by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) under Section 17 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 ’the Act’, were refused by public bodies in 2017.Since 2010, the CCRC has never brought a judicial review against a public body because of its refusal to agree to a request for information under Section 17 of the Act.The CCRC has never obtained any Crown Court Orders under Section 18A since this provision was enacted by an amendment to the Act in 2016.

Criminal Cases Review Commission: Applications

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of applicants to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) have met in person with CCRC caseworkers in each year since 2010.

Lucy Frazer: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Justice: Brexit

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has spent on consultancy fees in relation to the UK leaving the EU since July 2016.

Rory Stewart: The Ministry of Justice has not incurred any expenditure on consultancy related to EU Exit from July-16 to date.

Ministry of Justice: ICT

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November to Question 183252 on Ministry of Justice: ICT, what estimate he has made of the cost the full delivery of the Common Platform Programme.

Lucy Frazer: The cost as set out in the 2017 HMT approved business case for development of the Common Platform Programme is £280m.

Ministry of Justice: Buildings

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2018 to Question 157090 on Ministry of Justice: Buildings, how many days each Minister of his Department spent in Petty France between 5 October 2017 and 5 November 2017.

Edward Argar: Between 5 October 2017 and 5 November 2017 Dr Phillip Lee MP spent 13 days in the Ministry of Justice; David Lidington MP 13 days; Dominic Raab MP 7 days and Sam Gyimah MP 15 days. Lord Keen has a dual role as Advocate General for Scotland and MoJ spokesperson in the House of Lords, as such, he spent 4 days in the department on Ministry of Justice business. All ministers are required to split their departmental time between 102 Petty France and other locations such as the House of Commons/Lords. As such departmental meetings and business are regularly undertaken at the House of Commons/Lords, this reflects the nature of Parliamentary obligations and legislative business. In addition to this, visits are often undertaken as part of Ministerial duties. The information provided is for days spent partially or entirely in 102 Petty France.

Women's Centres

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will publish its map of women's centres and rape crisis centres.

Edward Argar: Women’s centres and rape support centres are independent organisations. The MoJ has provided funding to both, but does not oversee their work and bears no responsibility for maintaining records of them. Maps have been produced in the past showing snapshots of their number and location at that point in time. The women’s centres map was published in guidance for the police on working with vulnerable women, alongside the female offender strategy in June 2018; the rape support centres map has been shared with various stakeholders, but has not been published and there are no plans at present to publish it.Our female offender’s strategy sets out a programme of work to improve outcomes for female offenders, based on our vision of seeing fewer women entering the justice system and serving short custodial sentences, and better conditions for those women in custody. We are keen to work in partnership with women’s centres and other local organisations to deliver this vision.

Women's Centres

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what resources his Department has allocated to fund (a) magistrates and (b) judges visiting women's centres since 2010.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what resources his Department provided to fund the production and distribution of information on women's centres for (a) magistrates and (b) judges since 2010.

Lucy Frazer: The National Probation Service (NPS) works closely with judges and magistrates to keep them up to date with the latest developments in sentencing options and interventions, both locally and nationally. Information on the services that women’s centres can provide for offenders forms part of this work. The NPS will also seek to facilitate visits to women centres for sentencers who wished to undertake them. Funding for this work is not specifically earmarked, but is found from the overall provision to cover the work of the NPS.

Prisons: Unmanned Air Vehicles

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on how many occasions the illegal use of drones in the vicinity of the prison estate has resulted in convictions in each of the last three years.

Rory Stewart: We are taking decisive steps to tackle the use of drones as a supply route for criminals to bring contraband, including drugs and mobile phones, into prisons. Last year we launched Operation Trenton, a specialist team of Prison Service and Police investigators, to work together to intercept drones and track down the criminals behind them.It is not possible to identify from centrally held data which convictions secured under the Prison Act 1952 relate specifically to drones. However, we believe that at least 45 people have been convicted of illicit drone activity, with those sentenced serving a total of more than 140 years in prison. On 26 October, following the largest investigation of its kind, an organised criminal gang of 15 were collectively sentenced to nearly 40 years in prison for using drones to drop drugs into a number of prisons. The ringleader, Lee Anslow, received a sentence of 10 years, the highest single sentence for drone-related activity to date.

Young Offenders: Convictions

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children under the age of 15 were convicted in youth courts in each of the last five years.

Edward Argar: Information on convictions, by age, is contained within the ‘Outcomes by offence data tool’ within the annual publication: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733981/outcomes-by-offence-tool-2017-update.xlsx The pivot contains an age range drop down box from which 10-11 and 12-14 can be selected to represent those under 15. Centrally held information does not record whether or not the conviction occurred in the Youth Court.

Ministry of Justice: ICT

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people (a) currently and (b) previously working on developing the Common Platform Programme have had past employment with Agilesphere.

Lucy Frazer: The information requested is not held centrally.

Legal Aid Scheme: Refugees

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many successful applications for exceptional case funding were made in relation to an application for refugee family reunion in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017.

Lucy Frazer: This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Legal Aid Scheme: Human Trafficking

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing providing legal aid support to potentially trafficked people to ensure that they are able to make an informed decision on whether to enter the National Referral Mechanism.

Lucy Frazer: The Government has always been clear that publicly-funded immigration legal advice is available for individuals identified as potential victims of trafficking or modern slavery. There is specific legal aid provision for victims of modern slavery and human trafficking for immigration advice and representation, including assistance with applications for leave to enter or remain, subject to means and merits. However, advice on whether to enter the National Referral Mechanism, such as that provided by a first responder or local authority, would not be within the scope of legal aid funding.

Public Sector: Pay

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what comparative assessment he has made of the average amount of time taken for (a) probation officers and (b) other public sector employees to reach the top of the pay scale.

Edward Argar: Our probation staff do a vital and challenging job reforming offenders and protecting the public.In 2017, HMPPS benchmarked the pay ranges within the NPS and found them appropriate and in alignment with other public sector workforces. The time taken for new staff to reach the top of their probation pay scale is judged against them acquiring the unique and necessary skills and competencies to be a proficient probation officer. This is not comparable to the time taken to progress in other public sector roles.

National Probation Service for England and Wales: Finance

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the allocation of funds to the probation service since the probation service was combined with the prison service.

Rory Stewart: Her Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS) is responsible for the delivery of prison and probation services in England and Wales. These services were first brought together with the creation of the National Offender Management Service in 2004, which became HMPPS in 2017.In respect of determining how much money is spent and how funding is determined for prisons/probation, it should be noted that annual budget allocations are set as part of the Ministry of Justice’s annual budget allocation process and subject to any in year movements or organisation restructure changes. These allocations are made on the basis of need and according to Departmental priorities. The allocation of funds for the services provided by HMPPS is carefully planned and prioritised on a regular basis in order to ensure HMPPS is able to continue to deliver its services for all offenders sentenced by the courts for either supervision in the community or custody.

Legal Aid Scheme: Refugees

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many successful applications for exceptional case funding were made in relation to an application for refugee family reunion in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017.

Lucy Frazer: This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Animal Welfare: Prosecutions

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were (a) proceeded against and (b) convicted of an offence under Section 8 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in each police force area in each year between 2007 and 2012.

Rory Stewart: The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts for offences under section 8 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, in England and Wales, by police force area, from 2007 to 2012, can be viewed in the table below: Defendants proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts of offences under Section 8 Animal Welfare Act 2006, by police force area, England and Wales, 2007 to 2012 (1)(2) Police Force Area20072008 (3)2009201020112012Proceeded againstFound guiltyProceeded againstFound guiltyProceeded againstFound guiltyProceeded againstFound guiltyProceeded againstFound guiltyProceeded againstFound guilty Metropolitan Police--223211--1-Lancashire----52----11Merseyside----------1-Cheshire----------11Northumbria--------53--Durham----32------North Yorkshire--------21--West Yorkshire----------21Humberside------11----Cleveland--11--------West Midlands--2231----1-Staffordshire----------22West Mercia--------1---Lincolnshire----22------Norfolk--------1122Bedfordshire----------1-Thames Valley--------2264Sussex------1---22Avon and Somerset----------1-Wiltshire--------62--England and Wales--55169321792113'-'= Nil(1) The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.(2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.(3) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates' court for April, July and August 2008. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services - Ministry of Justice.

Dog Fighting: Prosecutions

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were (a) proceeded against under and (b) convicted of dog fighting offences in each of the last two years.

Rory Stewart: There were 11 prosecutions and 2 convictions in 2016, and 2 prosecutions and 0 convictions in 2017 in England and Wales for dog fighting offences.This information was obtained from a manual review of court case files that centrally held data indicated may be relevant, and as such has not been through the same quality assurance processes as for routinely published data.These figures relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.

Legal Aid Scheme: Refugees

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many successful applications for exceptional case funding were made in relation to an application for refugee family reunion in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017.

Lucy Frazer: This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Legal Aid Scheme

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department made prior to enactment of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 of the annual number of cases that would be funded as exceptional cases.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department made prior to the enactment of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 of the total annual cost of exceptional case funding after its enactment.

Lucy Frazer: In certain circumstances where a matter is outside the scope of the civil legal aid scheme, as defined in Part 1 Schedule of Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO, an applicant may apply for exceptional case funding (ECF) The purpose of the exceptional case funding scheme is to provide legal aid in cases where it is needed to ensure the UK meets its legal obligations. This is a demand-led scheme and does not provide a general power to fund cases that fall outside the scope of legal aid. The Coalition Government did not present specific numbers on the volume or costs of post-LASPO ECF cases in published impact assessments as each case is assessed on its merits. However, assumptions were made that up to 5% of some newly out of scope proceedings would be granted funding through the ECF scheme. The Government is currently undertaking a post-implementation review of the impact of the legal aid changes made under Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) which will include the introduction of the ECF scheme.

Legal Aid Scheme

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what was the total (a) expenditure (b) number of cases granted under exceptional case funding in each year following the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in how many inquests was legal aid granted in each year since 2012.

Lucy Frazer: 188191: The total number of applications for Exceptional Case Funding which are granted is published by the Ministry of Justice, and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/legal-aid-statistics (Table 8.1 of the legal aid statistical tables). Please note that these statistics are compiled based on the time the application was received, rather than when funding was granted. An application may be granted in a different financial year from the one in which it was received, depending upon the applicable dates and circumstances. All applications for Exceptional Case Funding are considered on their own merits and the specifics of the individual case, and are granted funding if they meet the relevant criteria. The Legal Aid Agency carefully monitors the expenditure of legal aid category of law and the type of proceedings involved. However, it does not differentiate between sums paid for cases falling within the scope of the legal aid scheme as opposed to those funded under a grant of Exceptional Case Funding. Details of the total expenditure from the legal aid fund, broken down by various variables is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/legal-aid-statistics. 188192: Legal aid is potentially available for inquests either under the Legal Help scheme (where the application process is devolved to the provider) or via Civil Representation, where an application for Exceptional Case Funding must be made. The number of completed cases for each year since 2012 is shown below:  Legal HelpCivil Representation VolumeVolume2013-148832014-1590302015-1699632016-17112872017-1813981

Prisons: Recruitment

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October to Question 183925 and with reference to the announcement of 22 April, by what date his Department expects to have employed the final 500 additional prison staff.

Rory Stewart: Prison Officer recruitment has continued since the 22 April announcement. According to the latest published workforce statistics, from October 2016 to June 2018 there was a net increase of 3,653 full time equivalent Prison Officers.The 3,000 additional officers figure was passed in March 2018. A precise date is not available as our statistics use end of month data snapshots.We met our public target of recruiting 2,500 extra prison officers 7 months ahead of schedule.The latest set of HMPPS (formerly NOMS) workforce statistics covering the period to 30 June 2018 is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hm-prison-and-probation-service-workforce-quarterly-june-2018

Prisoners: Self-harm

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October to Question 183925, what steps his Department is taking to improve support for prisoners in the early days in custody.

Rory Stewart: The Government takes very seriously its responsibility to keep prisoners safe, and we are committed to reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths and self-harm incidents across the estate. We know that prisoners are at increased risk during the early days in custody and in the period following a transfer between prisons. This is why, as part of our prison safety programme, we are continuing our efforts to support prisoners by:• improving staff knowledge and understanding of the factors known to increase risk of self-harm, to help them to identify and respond appropriately to prisoners at risk. Our revised introduction to suicide and self-harm prevention training has already reached over 17,000 staff;• improving the flow, quality and use of risk information about people coming into our prisons, to support effective decision-making about risk;• renewing our partnership with Samaritans by confirming a further three years’ funding for their valuable Listeners Scheme, and working with them to share learning from the ‘Coping with Life in Prisons’ project, a successful pilot initiative in which Samaritans-trained ex-prisoners delivered emotional resilience training to groups of newly-arrived prisoners;• producing an early days toolkit to help staff enhance their support for prisoners during their first few days and weeks in custody; and• improving the multi-disciplinary ACCT case management process for those identified as at risk of self-harm or suicide.

Special Educational Needs: Appeals

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) number and (b) outcome of appeals against decisions by local authorities on special educational needs, and their preceding education health and care plans, there were (i) in each local authority area and (ii) for each condition in each of the last five years; and what the cost to the public purse was of such appeals in that same period.

Lucy Frazer: Due to the volume of data required to answer the question in respect of appeals against special education needs decisions made by local authorities, I will arrange for this information, broken down by local authority, to be placed in the Library of the House. Information on the cost to the public purse for these appeals prior to the 2015/16 Financial Year is not available at this time, but I can confirm that the total cost of the operation of the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) (FtT SEND) was: In 2015/16 - £2,983,418In 2016/17 - £3,347,986In 2017/18 - £4,008,647

Legal Costs: Refugees

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the ability of sponsors to meet legal costs related to applications for refugee family reunion.

Lucy Frazer: The Government does not collect data on the private legal costs of individuals to assist with a refugee family reunion application.

Social Security Benefits: Leeds

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of (a) personal independence payment and (b) employment support allowance assessment appeals were successful in Leeds in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Lucy Frazer: (a) Information about the volumes and outcomes of appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) including (a) Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statisticsHM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) does not record data based on constituencies. SSCS appeals are listed into the hearing venue nearest to the appellant’s home address. The published Tribunals Statistics CSV files provide information about the outcomes of PIP appeals for individual hearing venues including Leeds, where appeals from constituents living in the Leeds area would be heard.(b) This information is not held centrally. The Tribunal hears appeals generally against decisions on entitlement to benefit, or its rate of payment. Some Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) decisions may feature an element of assessment against work capability criteria, while other ESA decisions may not. HMCTS does not, therefore, hold the information requested.Latest figures indicate that since PIP was introduced, 3.5 million decisions have been made up to June 2018, and of these 9% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned at Tribunals. For ESA, 3.5m ESA (post Work Capability Assessment) decisions have been made between April 2014 and March 2018 and of these 8% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned at tribunals.

Legal Aid Scheme

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for legal aid in criminal cases were refused in each of the last five years.

Lucy Frazer: The answer to this PQ is available within the LAA published Stats on gov.uk at tables 3.1 and 3.2 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/legal-aid-statistics-january-to-march-2018. Please see table below which was extracted from the published stats.

Law Centres: Legal Aid Scheme

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many law centres have offered legal aid in each region in each year since 2010.

Lucy Frazer: Numbers of recorded Law Centres as at March of each year by LAA Regional Office:LAA RegionMar-10Mar-11Mar-12Mar-13Mar-14Mar-15Mar-16Mar-17Mar-18Birmingham333377777Brighton111110100Bristol533365333Cambridge311111133133Cardiff111111000Leeds57771414999Liverpool222222222London232525233026242424Manchester899895544Newcastle111100000Nottingham2655109999Reading111100000Grand Total557069668372616161 The location provided is based on the LAA office closest to where the law centre office resides based on its postcode.Legal aid contracts are held across a broad base of providers, including Law Centres. Under the 2018 Standard Civil Contract, only 2% of the contracts issued are with Law Centres. A complete list of firms (including both Law Centres and those in private practice) which hold a legal aid contract, and categories of law is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/directory-of-legal-aid-providers. This shows which other firms may provide legal aid services in those regions where a law centre does not operate.

Legal Aid Scheme: Slavery

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November 2018 to Question 185051 on Legal Aid Scheme: Slavery, whether the specific legal aid provision for victims of modern slavery and human trafficking for immigration advice and representation, including assistance with applications for leave to enter or remain, subject to means and merits, applies to applications for (a) permanent residence, (b) pre-settled status and (c) settled status; and if he will make a statement.

Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for International Trade

Trade Agreements

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps the Government is taking to discuss with the devolved administrations the way in which future trade deals will apply to different parts of the UK.

George Hollingbery: Department for International Trade indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Housing Infrastructure Fund

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much his Department has spent on grant funding for infrastructure associated with housing developments in each year since 2009-10.

James Brokenshire: This information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. At Autumn Budget, the Housing Infrastructure Fund was increased by £500 million to a total of £5.5 billion.

Parks: Finance

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding will be allocated to the second round of pocket parks; and if any of those parks will be located in South Yorkshire.

Rishi Sunak: The Secretary of State recognises the importance of parks and green spaces in building safer, stronger and more integrated communities. We announced on 7 October that Government would invest £1 million in a second pocket parks programme to create new parks and also provide support to maintain and improve existing parks to help bring existing parks back into safe and regular use.The Government will shortly be publishing a prospectus, inviting bids for funding from across the England. Following closure of the application process, bids will be reviewed and announcement of successful applicants will be announced in spring 2018.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Brexit

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much his Department has spent on consultancy fees in relation to the UK leaving the EU since July 2016.

Jake Berry: Details of all MHCLG spend over £250 is published on gov.uk and the most recent publication can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/754013/TP_MHCLG_September_2018.csv/preview.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Talk Money Week

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions his Department has had with representatives of Talk Money Week.

Jake Berry: I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 187318 on 6 November 2018.

Wind Power: Planning Permission

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what scientific research underpins the Government's current policy on the granting of planning permission for onshore wind farms, particularly community-owned onshore wind turbines.

Kit Malthouse: Last year the Government’s Clean Growth Strategy, which supports the Industrial Strategy, announced a Local Energy Programme, which supports local actors, community groups, local authorities and combined authorities to develop their own energy strategies and deliver their own energy programmes. Community energy is a key part of clean growth, showing what can happen when groups of people come together to de-carbonise energy in local areas, whilst also investing in these places to bring other economic, or social, benefits. Even small-scale projects can provide a valuable contribution to cutting greenhouse gas emissions.The National Planning Policy Framework expects local planning authorities to recognise the responsibility on all communities to contribute to energy generation from renewable or low carbon sources. New tests were introduced into planning in 2015 to give local people the final say on onshore wind planning applications in England, which delivered on a manifesto commitment made by the previous Government. Planning for onshore wind turbines in the UK is devolved outside of England.

Community Relations

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how his Department determines funding allocation levels for integration initiatives within communities.

James Brokenshire: The priorities set out in the Integrated Communities Strategy Green Paper will be supported by £50 million funding over the next two years. This includes funding to support the Integration Areas programme, based on the areas' local delivery plans to address the integration challenges and priorities identified locally. It also includes the new Integrated Communities Innovation Fund and the Integrated Communities English Language Programme, both of which were open to applicants with project proposals where there is evidence of local integration challenges. The assessment criteria for both of these programmes were set out in the programme prospectus published on the GOV.uk website.

Housing: South Yorkshire

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 4.56 of the Budget 2018 Red Book, what estimate he has made of the number of new homes that will be built in South Yorkshire.

Kit Malthouse: We have not estimated the number of homes that would be built on a local authority basis, following the abolition of the Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap. We estimate that nationally, local authority delivery will increase to around 10,000 homes per year. Local authorities in South Yorkshire, and elsewhere, are able to use their new borrowing freedom to start building new homes to meet the needs of their communities immediately. We want to see them seize this opportunity and build a new generation of council housing.In respect of the additional £2 billion of grant funding for Affordable Housing from 2022 to 2029, it is not possible to determine the distribution across regions until bids have been approved. Homes England do publish allocations data on the current 2016-2022 Affordable Homes Programme outside of London. As of March 2018, 1,361 affordable homes have been allocated grant funding in South Yorkshire.Local authorities in South Yorkshire were successful in securing £5.8 million of Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) Marginal Viability Funding, which will unlock up to 730 homes. The final funding amounts are subject to a funding clarification process that is currently underway. We are currently working with Sheffield City Regions Combined Authority to develop their HIF Forward Funding bid. We cannot say if this funding will support homes in South Yorkshire until their bid is submitted in the coming months.

Homelessness: Young People

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to protect young people who have suffered domestic violence and are homeless.

James Brokenshire: Domestic abuse is a devastating crime, and we are taking action to make sure survivors get the support they need. My Department has committed £40 million up to 2020 to support victims of domestic abuse.Councils have a legal duty to provide assistance to people whom they assess as homeless as a result of domestic abuse, and to provide accommodation to families and others who are vulnerable as a result of fleeing domestic abuse.My Department is also carrying out a review of how domestic abuse services are commissioned and funded locally across England. We are working closely with other Departments, the domestic abuse sector and local authorities, to develop sustainable delivery options for domestic abuse services, including refuges.We recognise that the needs of those who present as homeless and are victims of domestic violence can be different. That is why we are ensuring that frontline workers receive the relevant training to support these victims.As outlined in the recently published Rough Sleeping Strategy, the Department is currently developing the Young Futures Fund. This is a social impact bond programme aimed at supporting vulnerable young people aged 18-24 who are at risk of becoming – or are currently – homeless or rough sleeping.

Social Rented Housing: East Midlands

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has plans to improve the quality of social housing in the East Midlands.

Kit Malthouse: All social homes should be provided and maintained to a decent standard. Progress in the social sector has been made. In 2016, 13 per cent of homes were non-decent compared with 20 per cent in 2010. We are using the Social Housing Green Paper to consider whether the Decent Homes Standard is demanding enough and delivers the right standards for social housing alongside other tenures. In respect of the East Midlands, in June 2018 we announced a strategic partnership between Homes England and East Midlands Housing, which will see 748 additional affordable homes built in the region by March 2022.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) schools, (b) hospitals and (c) care homes that are (i) clad and (ii) insulated with non-ACM combustible cladding materials.

Kit Malthouse: The Government’s Building Safety Programme is tracking the remediation of residential buildings over 18 metres with unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding systems. The Building Safety Programme works closely with the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS Improvement and the Department for Education, to ensure that appropriate remediation steps are being taken on public buildings with unsafe ACM cladding systems.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's Advice Note 19, Advice for owners of buildings which include spandrel panels/ window panels/ infill panels, when the Government plans to publish the findings of its investigation into the risks of non-ACM combustible cladding materials.

Kit Malthouse: The Government will be researching the fire performance of high pressure laminate panels, among other non-ACM cladding materials, as part of its wider investigation into the risks of non-ACM combustible cladding.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's Advice Note 19, Advice for owners of buildings which include spandrel panels/ window panels/ infill panels, whether his Department has examined high-pressure laminate cladding as part of its investigation into the risks of non-ACM combustible cladding materials.

Kit Malthouse: The Government will be researching the fire performance of high pressure laminate panels, among other non-Aluminium Composite Materials (ACM) cladding materials, as part of its wider investigation into the risks of non-ACM combustible cladding.

Council Housing: Construction

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2018 to Question 186188 on Housing Revenue Account, how many units would have been built as a result of the £2.8 billion in additional borrowing requested by local authorities; and how much additional grant funding was requested by those authorities to finance those units.

James Brokenshire: Local authorities submitted bids to deliver around 20,000 homes over the period 2019/20 to 2021/22 supported, in part, with around £800 million additional Affordable Homes Programme grant.

Housing: Milton Keynes

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to make an announcement on the proposed Milton Keynes housing deal.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers of his Department have had with hon. Members representing Milton Keynes on the proposed Milton Keynes Housing Deal.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to secure a housing deal with Milton Keynes local authority.

James Brokenshire: The Government is committed to delivering the homes communities need. Through housing deals we are keen to support those places which come forward with a genuine ambition to build more homes.We will continue to work with Milton Keynes Council and other local partners to help them realise their housing ambition. We are clear that any housing deal must meet the needs of all concerned.My ministerial colleagues and I have regular discussions with MPs about local housing issues.

Affordable Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the answer of 5 November 2018 to question 186185 on Affordable Housing, whether Homes England has been given any annual affordable homes targets.

James Brokenshire: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Domestic Violence

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the (a) project specification of the work and (b) any completed outputs arising from the commissioning of an analysis  arising from the commissioning of a domestic abuse audit from Ipsos UK.

James Brokenshire: Government is absolutely committed to protecting victims of domestic abuse. We commissioned this audit of provision of domestic abuse services across England, run by Ipsos MORI, to inform our review of how domestic abuse services are locally commissioned and funded across the country.We have been working closely with Ipsos MORI and academics to review findings from the audit, and will publish a report in due course, including information on the project specification and key findings.

Leasehold

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the estimated number of leasehold dwellings by tenure in each region of England.

Kit Malthouse: MHCLG does not currently have regional estimates of the number of leaseholds dwellings in England. The current estimates are ‘experimental official statistics’ and as part of on-going work to improve them we will consider whether it is feasible to produce sub-national statistics in future statistical releases.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's Advice Note 19, Advice for building owners on spandrel panels-window panels-infill panels on external walls, published on 17 October 2018, whether the Government has examined Cross-laminated timber cladding as part of its investigation into the risks of non-aluminium composite material combustible cladding materials.

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's Advice Note 19, Advice for building owners on spandrel panels-window panels-infill panels on external walls, published on 17 October 2018, whether the Government has examined expanded polystyrene external wall insulation as part of its investigation into the risks of non-aluminium composite material combustible cladding materials.

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's data release entitled Building Safety Programme: Monthly Data Release for September 2018, whether the Government plans to conduct further testing on the 1,393 samples held at the Building Research Establishment containing non-aluminium composite material combustible cladding materials.

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's Building Safety Programme: Monthly Data Release, published on 14 September 2018, whether the Government plans to conduct further testing on the 1,393 samples held at the Building Research Establishment containing non-aluminium composite material combustible cladding materials.

Kit Malthouse: The Building Research Establishment has informed building owners where samples of cladding materials submitted under the Government’s screening programme were not aluminium composite material and has catalogued those samples for further consideration by the Department in its on-going work to assess potential risks associated with non - Aluminium Composite Materials (ACM) cladding. The Department has also commissioned Building Research Establishment to undertake further research into non - ACM cladding materials.

Local Government Finance

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what comparative assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of Government funding for local authorities and trends in local authority spending on sports and recreation spaces.

Rishi Sunak: The Government understands the important part that sports and recreation places play in local communities.Over the five year period from 2015-16 to 2019-20 council’s will have access to more than £200 billion after this month’s budget. The Chancellor’s announcement means a real-terms increase in funding for local government in 2018/19 and 2019/20.The Government has increased local councils’ financial flexibility by removing conditions from many grants. This gives them more freedom over the money they receive and enables them to work with their residents to decide how best to spend it on local priorities.

Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission: Public Appointments

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) due diligence was undertaken on and (b) assessment was made of the pronouncements on equality and diversity of the Chair of the Commission on Beauty in the Built Environment prior to their appointment.

Kit Malthouse: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Local Government: Procurement

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his oral contribution of 5 November 2018, Official Report column 1229, what guidance he has issued to local authorities on taking local value into account when awarding contracts.

Rishi Sunak: The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 places a requirement on commissioners, including local authorities, to consider the social, economic and environmental benefits of their approaches to services contracts before the procurement process starts. The existing scheme of UK procurement rules, which implement the EU public procurement directives, are preserved under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 when the UK leaves the European Union, with relevant adjustments necessary to ensure legal operability. This will give legal certainty and continuity to businesses, contracting authorities, and employees, on day one of Exit. We will use opportunities offered by our exit from the EU to carefully consider longer-term options for the UK's public procurement rules.

Sleeping Rough: Hostels

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information he holds on the number of hostel beds which have been available to tackle rough sleeping in each year for which data is available.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: Homeless Link is commissioned by MHCLG to conduct an annual review of hostel bed spaces: in 2017 Homelessness Link reported that there were 35,727 bed spaces. We expect the next review will be released in March 2019. This review has been performed annually since 2008 and the data is publically available. The latest information can be found here:https://www.homeless.org.uk/connect/blogs/2017/mar/27/homeless-links-annual-review-of-support-for-single-homeless-people

Help to Buy Scheme

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many help to buy equity loans have been made since the start of that scheme; and of those loans what proportion were for leasehold properties.

Kit Malthouse: Help to Buy: Equity Loan has helped 169,102 households buy a new-build home from its launch on 1 April 2013 until 31 March 2018.To end March 2018, overall, 24.9 per cent of these were for leasehold properties: 12.0 per cent of houses were leasehold and 92.8 per cent of flats were leasehold.Statistical data is set out at Table 9, 9a and 9b in the quarterly statistical release to March 2018:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/734061/HTB_EL_and_HTB_NewBuy_statistical_release.pdf

Ministry of Defence

Defence: Scotland

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2018 to Question 907182 on Defence: Scotland, if he will estimate the total defence spending by (a) current and (b) capital expenditure in Scotland in each year for which information is available since 2010-11.

Stuart Andrew: Our regional analyses do not provide a breakdown on whether defence spending relates to resource or capital expenditure.

Defence Equipment: Scotland

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2018 to Question 907182 on Defence: Scotland, how much of the £1.592 billion of his Department's expenditure in 2016-17 was spent on (a) maritime, (b) land and (c) air equipment.

Stuart Andrew: The budgetary structure of the Ministry of Defence does not show separately the costs of the three individual Armed Services. This is because large parts of the Armed Services operate as fully integrated joint organisations in which elements from the Navy, Army and Air Force work closely together and share land, buildings and facilities, and sometimes equipment. The attached table shows expenditure with Scottish industry broken down by industry group.



Defence Scotland
(Word Document, 32.89 KB)

Navy: Minesweepers

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the Royal Navy’s autonomous mine warfare capabilities.

Stuart Andrew: The Mine Countermeasures and Hydrographic Capability project is investigating the use of autonomous systems to deliver the Royal Navy's future Mine Counter Measures capability.I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1 November 2018 to Question 184916 to the right hon. Member for North Durham (Kevan Jones).



Minesweepers
(Word Document, 26.4 KB)

World War I: Anniversaries

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to support the (a) National Army Museum, (b) National Museum of the Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force Museum to mark the centenary of the Armistice.

Mark Lancaster: The Royal Navy, Army, and Royal Air Force support their respective museums through an annual Grant in Aid payment, which is used by the museums for any exhibition or theme that it wishes to support.

Shipping: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's latest timetables are for the orders of (a) Type 31e (first batch), and (b) Fleet Solid Support vessels.

Stuart Andrew: We plan to award a contract for Type 31e by December 2019 and for the Fleet Solid Support ships in 2020.

Defence: Trade Fairs

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which companies will be attending the Defence Procurement, Research, Technology and Exportability 2019 event in Cardiff on 28 March 2019.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether officials from overseas countries will be attending the Defence Procurement, Research, Technology and Exportability 2019 event in Cardiff on 28 March 2019.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reasons the Defence Procurement, Research, Technology and Exportability 2019 event is being held at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department made an assessment of the potential merits of holding the Defence Procurement, Research, Technology and Exportability 2019 event at locations other than the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff.

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had from the Welsh Government on the Defence Procurement, Research, Technology and Exportability 2019 event.

Stuart Andrew: Defence Procurement, Research, Technology and Exportability 2019 (DPRTE 2019) is a commercial event organised by BiP Solutions Ltd. As such the Ministry of Defence is not responsible for the organisation of the event, including attendance and the choice of venue.

Weeton Barracks

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress his Department is making on plans to redevelop Weeton Barracks into HQ North West by 2022 as part of the 2016 Strategic Defence Estate Review; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The Ministry of Defence's plan for Weeton Barracks remains as stated in the "A Better Defence Estate" announcement of November 2016. The Defence Estate Optimisation Programme has been mobilised to deliver this strategy. We will provide further updates as plans develop.

Defence Equipment: Finance

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Ministerial Statement of 5 November 2018, HCWS1064 on the Defence Equipment Plan, what proportion of the allocated budget shortfall in the four years from 2018-19 is due to the decision to reprofile the Dreadnought programme and bring forward spending.

Stuart Andrew: On the basis of a review in summer 2017, detailed cost forecasts were developed for procurement and support programmes managed by the Defence Nuclear Organisation. This included the Dreadnought programme where re-profiling provided opportunities to drive out cost and risk later in the programme to ensure it remains on schedule and within its £31 billion estimated cost. I am withholding the specific information requested as its release would prejudice the commercial interests of the Ministry of Defence.

Defence Equipment: Finance

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 3.14 on page 34 of the 5 November 2018 National Audit Office Report on the Equipment Plan 2018 to 2028, HC1621, on which projects he plans to use the £150 million contingency available across its equipment and support budgets.

Stuart Andrew: Contingency funding managed by head office will be used to offset aggregate increases in cost across the whole programme, after project and TLB-level risk management controls have been applied. We will decide on the allocation of this funding as part of our normal financial planning and budgeting process.

Defence Equipment: Parliamentary Scrutiny

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 14 of the National Audit Office Report, the Equipment Plan 2018 to 2028, HC1621, published on 5 November 2018, what steps he is taking to improve how his Department outlines to Parliament its decisions in relation to the Equipment Plan, including the financial and broader implications.

Stuart Andrew: We are grateful to the National Audit Office for their report and continue to work with them to improve our processes and transparency. We expect to report the implications of decisions affecting the Equipment Plan in future Equipment Plan financial summary reports.

United Arab Emirates: Military Aid

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assistance his Department has provided to the Government of the United Arab Emirates on counter terrorism in Yemen in (a) 2016, (b) 2017 and (c) 2018.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence did not provide assistance to the government of the United Arab Emirates on counter-terrorism in Yemen in 2016, 2017 or 2018.

Department for Work and Pensions

Children: Maintenance

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department holds on the level of successful collections of child maintenance for (a) employed payees and (b) self employed payees.

Justin Tomlinson: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 16 October 2018.The correct answer should have been:

The Child Maintenance Service includes two service types: ‘Direct Pay’ where payments are arranged and agreed between parents, and ‘Collect & Pay’ where payments are collected and paid to the receiving parent by Child Maintenance Service.The Department does not record data for direct pay compliance. If the paying parent does notdon't pay they can be moved onto the Collect and Pay at the discretion of the child maintenance service. The department does hold data on the compliance of Collect and Pay arrangements. Please refer to Table 7 of the Child Maintenance Service Statistics. Data on compliance is recorded separately to data on employment status and cannot be easily linked. The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. Although the department does hold some of the data to answer your question we estimate the cost of complying with your request would exceed the appropriate limit for central government, set by regulation at £600.This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 3 and half working days in determining whether the department holds the information, locating, retrieving and extracting it. We believe it would take longer than 3 and half days to match the compliance of a paying parent with their employment status. As a result, under section 12 of the Freedom of information Act the department is not therefore obliged to comply with your request and we will not be processing it further. The Child Maintenance Service Statistics which shows overall compliance can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-august-2013-to-june-2018-experimental

Justin Tomlinson: The Child Maintenance Service includes two service types: ‘Direct Pay’ where payments are arranged and agreed between parents, and ‘Collect & Pay’ where payments are collected and paid to the receiving parent by Child Maintenance Service.The Department does not record data for direct pay compliance. If the paying parent does notdon't pay they can be moved onto the Collect and Pay at the discretion of the child maintenance service. The department does hold data on the compliance of Collect and Pay arrangements. Please refer to Table 7 of the Child Maintenance Service Statistics. Data on compliance is recorded separately to data on employment status and cannot be easily linked. The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. Although the department does hold some of the data to answer your question we estimate the cost of complying with your request would exceed the appropriate limit for central government, set by regulation at £600.This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 3 and half working days in determining whether the department holds the information, locating, retrieving and extracting it. We believe it would take longer than 3 and half days to match the compliance of a paying parent with their employment status. As a result, under section 12 of the Freedom of information Act the department is not therefore obliged to comply with your request and we will not be processing it further. The Child Maintenance Service Statistics which shows overall compliance can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-maintenance-service-august-2013-to-june-2018-experimental

Employment: Autism

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to close the autism employment gap.

Sarah Newton: The Government is strongly committed to increasing employment opportunities for disabled people, including those with autism. Taking a life course approach, we are working across Government and with local authorities, voluntary organisations and employers in the public and private sectors to achieve this. Help and support for people with autism includes: Access to Work, a discretionary grant scheme which offers advice and practical and financial support above the level of reasonable adjustments to disabled people who are in work or about to start work. Access to Work has also put in place a Hidden Impairment Specialist Team that gives advice and guidance to help employers support employees with conditions such as Autism, Learning Disability and/or Mental Health conditions. It also offers eligible people an assessment to find out their needs at work and help to develop a support plan.In 2017/18, the highest ever number of people received AtW payments - 33,860, up 13% on 2016/17.Through working with Autism Alliance, we have developed the Disability Confident Autism and Neurodiversity Toolkit, to help staff from all Government Departments understand how to support people with autism and associated neuro-diverse conditions. We also developed the Disability Passport ‘About Me’ which aims to encourage disabled claimants, including individuals with autism, to disclose their disability/ health conditions at the earliest stage to their Adviser, to improve communication and ensure reasonable adjustments are put in place. Both the toolkit and passport are hosted on Autism Alliance’s website.Also through working with Autism Alliance, we delivered Autism and Hidden Impairment training to over 1000 nominated staff across the Jobcentre Plus network. Feedback from delegates confirms that the training helped staff to understand how to support people with autism or hidden impairments into employment.The Civil Service has committed to support the Autism Exchange Programme, and my Department is working with Ambitious about Autism to provide work placement opportunities for young people.Through the Disability Confident scheme, DWP is engaging with employers and helping to promote the skills, talents and abilities of people with autism and associated hidden impairment conditions. Through the scheme, DWP is providing advice and support to help employers feel more confident about employing disabled people, by signposting them to appropriate advice guidance and support.Improving Lives: the Future of Work, Health and Disability, published last year, sets out the Government’s strategy for helping people with disabilities or health conditions, including learning difficulties and autism, enter and remain in employment. Whilst the initiatives are not all aimed exclusively at autistic people, we expect that many will benefit from these initiatives.

Work and Health Programme: Autism

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Health and Work Programme for autistic people.

Sarah Newton: Over contract duration we expect 75% of Work and Health Programme (WHP) outcomes to be from participants with a disability or long term health condition. Whilst the programme is not aimed exclusively at autistic people, we expect that many will benefit from its support; we will be releasing official statistics this year. However, the programme has been warmly welcomed by WHP Providers and their supply chain, external stakeholders and, most importantly, our customers, and is already helping people into lasting work.

Personal Independence Payment: Cancer

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with (a) leukaemia, (b) myeloma, (c) Hodgkin’s lymphoma and (d) non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma are in receipt of personal independence payment.

Sarah Newton: The Department publishes a range of detailed statistics for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html.These statistics include monthly caseloads (claims in payment) for claimants of PIP broken down by disability including leukaemia, myeloma, Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Personal Independence Payment: Cancer

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with (a) leukaemia, (b) myeloma, (c) Hodgkin's lymphoma and (d) non-Hodgkin's lymphoma have (i) been reassessed from disability living allowance to personal independence payment and (ii) received reduced rates of award.

Sarah Newton: Personal Independence Payment (PIP) has different eligibility criteria to Disability Living Allowance (DLA), and takes a more holistic view of a person’s health condition or disability and the impact it has on their ability to live an independent life. Therefore, when a DLA claimant is invited to claim PIP and is reassessed, the level of their award may stay the same, go up, down or cease altogether depending on their assessed level of need. It is important to note that the claimant may no longer have the condition recorded in the DLA system when they apply for PIP.We introduced PIP to replace the outdated DLA system. PIP is a fairer benefit, which takes a much wider look at the way an individual’s health condition or disability impacts them on a daily basis. Under PIP, 30 per cent of claimants are receiving the highest possible support, compared with just 15 per cent under DLA. 3,480 DLA claimants with Leukaemia have been reassessed from DLA to PIP and of this 1,080 received a reduced award amount on PIP compared to DLA, 840 were disallowed PIP post referral to the Assessment Provider and 140 were disallowed PIP pre-referral to the Assessment Provider. 520 DLA claimants with Myeloma have been reassessed from DLA to PIP and of this 200 received a reduced award amount on PIP compared to DLA, 70 were disallowed PIP post referral to the Assessment Provider and 10 were disallowed PIP pre-referral to the Assessment Provider. 300 DLA claimants with Hodgkin's lymphoma have been reassessed from DLA to PIP and of this 100 received a reduced award amount on PIP compared to DLA, 90 were disallowed PIP post referral to the Assessment Provider and 20 were disallowed PIP pre-referral to the Assessment Provider. 660 DLA claimants with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma have been reassessed from DLA to PIP and of this 240 received a reduced award amount on PIP compared to DLA, 160 were disallowed PIP post referral to the Assessment Provider and 20 were disallowed PIP pre-referral to the Assessment Provider. NotesThe category “Leukaemia” includes 6 categories under the DLA computer system - Leukaemia - myelogenous (myeloid) acute, Leukaemia - lymphoblastic – acute, Leukaemia - myeloid - chronic, Leukaemia - lymphocytic – chronic, Leukaemias - Other / type not known, Cancer and Leukaemia.The PIP Reassessment outcome is the outcome of the first DWP decision on each reassessment claim (i.e. prior to any reconsideration, appeal action and award review), where that decision was made between 1st October 2013 and 31st October 2017.Claimants that withdrew their claim to PIP are excluded.DLA Entitlement is the DLA award at the time of PIP reassessment registration.Reassessment outcomes are for individuals who were aged 16 to 64 on 8th April 2013.Data includes PIP claims made under both Normal Rules and Special Rules for the Terminally Ill. However, under DLA a claimant can be recorded as “Terminally Ill” rather than as having a named disability. Therefore, such cases are excluded from the above figures.The statistics provided relate to DLA award levels so primary disabling condition is reported as recorded on the DLA computer system. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics.Primary disabling condition may be recorded differently on the PIP and DLA computer systems.Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.Great Britain only.

Universal Credit

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason the taper that is applied to wages is not applied to pensions in relation to universal credit.

Alok Sharma: The taper is the rate at which Universal Credit is reduced to take account of earnings. It is specifically for in work claimants and linked to earnings to incentivise work, and those in work to earn more. Universal Credit has a single taper of 63 per cent so payments reduce in a transparent and predictable way as earnings increase. Universal Credit is a means tested benefit, and income other than earnings, such as pensions, is taken fully into account in the assessment of Universal Credit. This is consistent with how legacy means tested benefits such as Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Income Support treat pension income. Therefore it would not be consistent to extend the earnings taper to pensions income and doing so would also undermine the incentives to work for people of working age.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November 2018 to Question 185131 on Independent Case Examiner, if she will publish that same information for complaints by women on the equalisation of the state pension age.

Guy Opperman: Individual departments have set up complaints procedures. That approach has not changed under Labour 1997-2010 or successive governments. The DWP has a two tier complaints process which considers formal complaints about our service. Once a complainant has exhausted the DWP complaint process they are signposted to the Independent Case Examiner’s Office if they are dissatisfied with the final response to their complaint.The Independent Case Examiner is independent, and discusses complaints. The Independent Case Examiner is appointed under contract to adjudicate on escalated complaints about the DWP, and its contracted service providers, in cases where the complainant has exhausted the relevant internal complaints process and remains dissatisfied. If a complainant is dissatisfied with the outcome of an I Independent Case Examiner investigation (or the service provided by the Independent Case Examiner) they can ask their Member of Parliament to escalate their complaint to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.The table below provides details of the number of complaints concerning the equalisation of women’s state pension age, that have been (a) received; (b) accepted for investigation and (c) resolved by the Independent Case Examiner in each month since January 2017 (we have interpreted (c) as a request for the number of concluded complaint examinations).At the end of October 2018, there were 865 such cases awaiting a decision on whether the complaint could be accepted for investigation, which explains the drop in the number of cases accepted for investigation since April 2018. MonthComplaints receivedComplaints accepted for investigationConcluded complaint examinationsJanuary 2017210February 20172650March 20172111870April 20171721570May 20171711480June 20171441241July 20172221850August 20172902430September 20172972320October 20174183383November 20173202656December 20172221774January 201831425411February 201824021028March 201817113216April 2018196211May 2018159215June 2018147230July 2018131013August 2018108514September 2018101115October 2018119014

Personal Independence Payment: Myotonic Dystrophy

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations she has received from claimants of personal independence payment with myotonic dystrophy on personal independence payment assessments; and if she will make a statement.

Sarah Newton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5th November 2018 to Question UIN 186178

Universal Credit

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will set out the timeframe for implementing her Department's response to the court judgement of June 2018 on the payment of Severe Disability Premium to claimants who are already in receipt of Universal Credit.

Alok Sharma: Written statement HCWS745 on 7 June 2018 , which preceded the Court judgment of 14 June, set out our plans to make provision for claimants already in receipt of Universal Credit, to receive a Severe Disability Premium backdated. The ‘Universal Credit (Managed Migration) Amendment Regulations 2018’, which contain these provisions, were laid in Parliament on 5 November 2018 and will now be scrutinised and voted on by Parliament.

Disability: Advisory Services

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the White Paper, Improving Lives  published in November 2017, when the funding for Jobcentre Plus Community Partners and additional Disability Employment Advisers is due to end; and whether the Department has plans to allocate additional funding for those initiatives.

Sarah Newton: Funding for Jobcentre Plus Community Partners and additional Disability Employment Advisers has been agreed up until 31st March 2019. There is a range of support available for claimants with a health condition or disability, including one-to-one support from Work Coaches, The Work and Health Programme and the Personal Support package. Our overall aim is for work coaches to continue to develop the skills and confidence to provide good coaching and effective support. Disability Employment Advisers and Community Partners are among a number of the enablers in place to support this priority. We are carrying out continuous evaluation, including a review of the Community Partner and Disability Employment Adviser role functions. Recommendations from this review will be considered by Ministers and DWP Senior Leaders as they decide how to ensure that we continue to provide a cohesive support offer beyond 31st March 2019.

Disability: Advisory Services

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has plans to undertake an assessment of the adequacy of the Jobcentre Plus Personalised Support Package for disabled people.

Sarah Newton: The Department has commissioned an externally contracted evaluation of the Jobcentre Plus Personalised Support Package. This will explore the experiences of claimants, employers, providers and DWP staff, of the personalised support provided through the package. A synthesis report of the over-arching evaluation will be published in Autumn 2021.

Universal Credit

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations she has received from (a) trades union and (b) the Trade Union Congress in relation to the managed migration of universal credit.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the meetings held by her Department (a) trades unions and (b) the Trade Union Congress on the managed migration of universal credit in 2018; and if she will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Members: Correspondence

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to reply to the letter of 4 October 2018 from the hon. Member for Delyn on statutory maternity pay and maternity allowance.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department takes the issue seriously and we are in the process of responding.

Pensions Regulator: Risk Assessment

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to enhance the moral hazard powers of the Pensions Regulator.

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to enhance the (a) information-gathering and (b) anti-avoidance powers of the Pensions Regulator.

Guy Opperman: We have announced in the White Paper, Protecting Defined Benefit Pension Schemes, that we intend to introduce a stand-alone interview power and enhanced inspection powers to enable the Pensions Regulator to conduct its investigations in a more efficient way. The Government’s recent consultation on a stronger Pensions Regulator asked for views on proposals to strengthen the Pensions Regulator’s powers, including specifically enhancing its anti-avoidance powers, which deal with moral hazard. We are considering the responses and hope to publish our conclusions shortly, with a view to taking forward any necessary legislation in due course.

Pensions: Consumer Information

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress her Department has made on proposed verification and security measures for individual users of the proposed Pensions Dashboard.

Guy Opperman: On Tuesday 4 September 2018, I published a written statement providing an update on pensions including the pensions dashboard. This statement can be found here: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-09-04/HCWS933/ An industry-led Dashboard, facilitated by Government, will harness the best of industry innovation. We will continue to engage with industry, consumer groups and other stakeholders on this model and Government will protect pension savers and personal information by legislating where necessary.

Pensions: Consumer Information

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the participation of pension schemes in the Pensions Dashboard will be compulsory.

Guy Opperman: As set out in the Autumn Budget, DWP will consult on the detailed design for pensions dashboards, and on how an industry-led approach could harness innovation while protecting consumers. As part of the consultation, due to be published shortly, the Department will explore how to maximise the participation of pension schemes.

Housing Benefit: North Lincolnshire

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to Answer of 5 November to Question 907432, how much discretionary housing payment was (a) awarded to and (b) spent by North Lincolnshire Council in each of the last three years.

Justin Tomlinson: The table below shows the amount awarded to and spent by North Lincolnshire Council in Discretionary Housing Payments in the last 3 financial years: YearAwardedSpent2015/16£240,930£39,6262016/17£294,816£50,7352017/18£395,413£84,105 Figures on the amount of Discretionary Housing Payments awarded to and spent by Local Authorities are available:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/discretionary-housing-payments-statistics

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many two week run-on payments for (a) job seekers allowance and (b) employment support allowance will claimants being migrated to universal credit receive in the five weeks following their universal credit claim; and if she will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: As announced at Autumn Budget 2018, payment of Income Support and the income related elements of Employment and Support Allowance and Jobseeker’s Allowance will continue for two weeks after a claim for Universal Credit has been made, effective from July 2020, benefitting 1.1 million households. Claimants will therefore receive one two week run-on payment when being migrated to Universal Credit. This builds upon the similar two week run-on of Housing Benefit that was announced at Autumn Budget 2017, and which was introduced in April this year. New claimants to Universal Credit can also apply for a Universal Credit Advance in their first month if they need some financial support until the first regular payment of Universal Credit is made. We have previously increased the maximum amount available for advances from 50 per cent to 100 per cent of the total award, and increased the repayment period from 6 months to 12 months. The Autumn Budget 2018 also extended the recovery period to 16 months from October 2021, and, from October 2019 reduces the maximum rate at which deductions can be made from a Universal Credit award from 40% to 30% of the standard allowance.

Universal Credit

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of claimants of universal credit that are paid every (a) four weeks, (b) two weeks and (c) every week.

Alok Sharma: I refer the hon Member to question 151086 anwered on 12 June 2018.

Social Security Benefits: Cystic Fibrosis

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with cystic fibrosis have qualified for (a) personal independence payments and (b) disability living allowance in each of the last five years.

Sarah Newton: Statistics on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claim outcomes (clearances) at disability level are not readily available and have not previously been published as Official Statistics. We are producing the statistics requested and issuing them in an Official Statistics release on 11th December 2018 in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. The information requested is not readily available for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. Statistics on the number of individuals in receipt of Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence payments broken down by disability, age and date are already available on Stat Xplore:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk Guidance for users is available at:https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html.

Bereavement Benefits

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department's policy is on the payment of bereavement benefits for unmarried partners with children.

Justin Tomlinson: Bereavement benefits are paid to a surviving spouse or civil partner; they can only be paid to those in legal unions. Therefore, they cannot be paid in respect of cohabitees, either with or without children. We are currently considering how to proceed following the recent Supreme Court judgement which ruled it incompatible with ECHR principles to provide that cohabitees with children are not entitled to Widowed Parent’s Allowance. Cohabitees do have access to income-related benefits. They may also qualify for help with funeral costs from the Social Fund and may of course choose to provide security for their families by way of private pension or life insurance arrangements.

Disability: Employment

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Table A08 of the recent Labour Market Bulletin published by the Office for National Statistics, what assessment she has made of the reasons for people with disabilities having an employment rate of 30.4 percentage points lower than people without disabilities between April to June 2018; and what plans her Department has to address that disability employment gap.

Sarah Newton: The employment rate gap between disabled and non-disabled people fell from 33.1% in April-June 2013 to 31.3% in April-June 2017. We remain committed to further improving outcomes for disabled people. The manifesto commitment to get one million more disabled people in work by 2027 gives us a clear, ambitious, and time bound goal. We set out our continued commitment to improving employment rates for disabled people and people with long-term health conditions in Improving Lives: the Future of Work, Health and Disability. We believe people should get the support they need whatever their health condition or disability, whether that’s from their employer, from the health system or from the welfare system. We have invested in our Personal Support Package, which includes £330 million of funding over four years with a range of new interventions and initiatives designed to provide support that is tailored to the individual needs of claimants. We have recruited 300 additional Disability Employment Advisers and we are introducing 200 new Community Partners, bringing specialist advice and support into the Jobcentre. We are supporting employers to help them recruit and retain disabled people and people with health conditions through Disability Confident, the Access to Work scheme, and specialist advisers in Jobcentres. Recognising the importance of keeping people in work, we want to reform the Statutory Sick Pay system so that it more effectively supports returns to work, and we are exploring how to shape, fund and deliver transformational change to provide effective occupational health services that can support people in work.

Universal Credit

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with representatives of staff working in job centres and service centres on difficulties experienced by such staff in (a) applying for and (b) receiving payment as claimants of universal credit.

Alok Sharma: My officials regularly meet with trade union representatives to discuss areas of concerns that staff may have.

Universal Credit: Telephone Services

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what process is used by her Department to estimate the (a) average call duration and (b) amount of calls taken by case managers working on universal credit; and if she will publish the results of such estimates for each year for which information is available.

Alok Sharma: Data can be extracted from the Universal Credit Full Service system to establish the average number of calls per day and the average duration. We have no plans to collect or publish this data routinely given the costs involved in maintaining it to official statistics standards.

Universal Credit: Telephone Services

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of case managers working on universal credit who are seconded to the national telephony team for each shift; and if she will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: We currently have 400 colleagues assigned to Universal Credit national tier telephony. We retain the flexibility to adjust the number of colleagues working on some of the core functions within Universal Credit to accommodate fluctuations in demand and the number of colleagues deployed to National Tier telephony will vary month on month as required.

Universal Credit

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what funding the Government has allocated for transitional payments for people moving onto universal credit; and by what process claimants will receive such payments.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Cats and Dogs: Meat

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to close the legal loophole that allows human consumption of dog and cat meat in the UK.

David Rutley: It is already illegal to sell dog and cat meat for human consumption and the Government has seen no evidence that dog or cat meat is being sold or consumed in this country.

Food: Production

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the food and farming sector has sufficient access to labour in order to sustain British food production (a) now and (b) in the future.

George Eustice: Defra understands the importance of labour in supporting a successful and effective agricultural sector, and is considering how best to support the needs of the sector both before and after the UK withdraws from the EU.   We have announced that the Government will introduce a new pilot scheme for 2019 and 2020, enabling up to 2,500 non-European Economic Area migrant workers to come to the UK to undertake seasonal employment in the edible horticultural sector.   Defra is also working closely with the Home Office to ensure that there is a long term strategy for the food and farming workforce as part of the future immigration policy.   Defra is working with industry to raise awareness of the career opportunities within the agriculture and food industry to attract domestic workers, and is exploring the potential for innovation and automation in meeting future labour demands.

Food: UK Trade with EU

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on the development of the infrastructure requirements for customs and veterinary border arrangements to ensure seamless trade in food with the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

David Rutley: There will be no immediate change to import controls for consignments originating in EU countries when we leave the EU. Currently, only risk-based checks are carried out at the final destination and these will continue when we leave the EU.

Agriculture

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure the sustainability of the livestock farming sector when the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: The Agriculture Bill currently going through parliament provides the powers necessary to support sustainable livestock production by making payments to farmers for adopting approaches to farm husbandry that improve animal health and welfare and which protect the farmed environment. It also creates the powers needed to improve fairness and transparency in the supply chain so that livestock farmers can provide a fairer price for the food they produce. Finally, the government aims to secure a deep and comprehensive free trade deal with the EU that continues to provide for frictionless, tariff-free trade.

Game

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on game meat producers of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

David Rutley: The Government aims to secure a deep and comprehensive free trade deal with the EU that continues to provide for frictionless, tariff-free trade, supporting the continued success of our agricultural sectors. Our departure from the EU also provides an opportunity for the UK to have an independent trade policy and a new agriculture policy which enables game producers and other sectors to improve their productivity and competitiveness outside of the EU, while also improving our environment. We remain confident in the resilience of our agricultural sectors and their ability to thrive outside of the EU.

Animals: Vaccination

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to ensure the uninterrupted supply of veterinary vaccines in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

David Rutley: We are working with the animal medicines industry to ensure that supplies of veterinary medicines remain available in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal. We intend to minimise any additional regulatory burdens on industry as a result of leaving the EU.

Veterinary Services

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which farming sectors his Department has identified as most at risk from a potential shortage of veterinary medicines in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

George Eustice: We are working with the animal medicines industry to ensure that supplies of veterinary medicines for all livestock sectors remain available in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Livestock: Animal Welfare

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that policy to improve the health of livestock is a) included in the Agriculture Bill, and b) effectively implemented.

George Eustice: The Agriculture Bill gives the Secretary of State the power to make payments to protect and improve the health of livestock, as well as to collect and share data relating to livestock health and traceability. We are working with industry and veterinary representatives to develop practical actions to help reduce the impact of endemic diseases on livestock and improve animal health. We will also work to improve the breadth and detail of animal health data gathered.

Fracking: Air Pollution

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to monitor emissions from shale gas sites once they have been decommissioned.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Environment Agency requires monitoring of the environmental conditions at shale gas sites before operations can start in accordance with the environmental permit granted. This provides a valuable evidence base to compare against monitoring results taken during and after operations. The type and period of monitoring required after decommissioning is determined on a site by site basis. It will depend on the risks associated with the type and scale of activities at a particular site, together with the local environmental setting. The Environment Agency will not allow an operator to surrender their permit until it is satisfied that the well has been decommissioned in line with the Health and Safety Executive's requirements and either no pollution has occurred at a site, or if it has, that the site has been returned to its original condition.

Fracking: Air Pollution

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential air quality effects of shale gas extraction since the completion of the Air Quality Expert Group report n that subject in 2015.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The report, “Potential Air Quality Impacts of Shale Gas Extraction in the UK”, prepared by the Air Quality Expert Group (AQEG) was published on 27 July and no further assessment of air quality impacts from this activity has been carried out. However, in line with the AQEG recommendations, the Environment Agency (EA) continues to monitor air quality around identified exploration sites before, during and after activities and they provide strict guidance that operators must adhere to.

Fracking: Lancashire

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the waste water disposal system at the Preston New Road Shale Gas site.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Environmental permits issued by the Environment Agency set legally binding conditions. The permit at Preston New Road allows for hydraulic fracturing fluid that returns to the surface, known as flowback fluid, to be reused and recycled onsite in the process. Flowback fluid that cannot be recycled will become waste, and must be taken offsite for treatment at appropriately licensed waste water treatment facilities.   Waste flowback is not expected to be produced at the site until further into the fracturing programme. At that time the Environment Agency plan to carry out a full audit of flowback storage, sampling and disposal.

Fracking: Lancashire

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Environment Agency has made of the level of compliance by Cuadrilla Resources with relevant environmental restrictions at its shale gas site at Preston New Road.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Environment Agency has been carrying out regular inspections, audits and unannounced spot checks to ensure that Cuadrilla is compliant with the legally binding conditions in the environmental permit. Cuadrilla had a small number of non-compliances with their environmental permit in 2017, mostly for procedural matters. This is not uncommon for industrial sites after site inspections and audits. In these instances the Environment Agency has provided advice and guidance to ensure full compliance with the permits. In response Cuadrilla has implemented the required improvements. So far in 2018, no permit non-compliances have been recorded.

Food: Production

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of climate change on the capacity for an increase in domestic food production.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the risk of climate change to the food and farming sector.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to mitigate the effects of climate change on the food and farming sector.

David Rutley: The Climate Change Act 2008 requires the Government to produce, every five years, an assessment of the risks to the United Kingdom arising from current and predicted climate change. Government published its second Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) in January 2017 which endorses six priority risk areas identified by the independent evidence report produced by the Adaptation Sub-Committee in July 2016. This included risks to domestic and international food production and trade and potential opportunities from long-term, climate-related changes in global food production. The CCRA notes a number of potential risks to UK agricultural production arising from, for example, vulnerability to water shortages, pests and disease, and extreme weather events. The report also observes that warmer weather and longer growing seasons may improve agricultural productivity. The second National Adaptation Programme, published in July 2018, sets out how we aim to tackle the risks to domestic and international food production and trade that England is facing from a changing climate. For example, Government’s commitment to review and publish the updated UK Food Security Assessment. The Government is committed to taking action to mitigate climate change and to adapt to its impact. As the cornerstone of future agriculture policy, the new environmental land management system will use public money for the provision of public goods, including supporting farmers and other land managers to mitigate and adapt to climate change.Agricultural greenhouse gas emissions have reduced by 16% since 1990, with many farms using more efficient agricultural practices. Land use, land use change and forestry continue to provide benefits in carbon sequestration. The Government recognises the importance of reducing emissions further in these sectors. The Clean Growth Strategy and the 25 Year Environment Plan set out the Government’s ambition for how this will be achieved.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Energy

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information he holds on the energy efficiency rating of buildings used by his Department.

George Eustice: Defra complies with the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and implements a program of Display Energy Certificate (DEC) where applicable across its estate. We currently have 36 sites that require a DEC. These range from office buildings to laboratories. The table below shows the DEC rating of our buildings and the number of buildings in each category.  Table1: DEC rating and number of sites DEC CategoryNumber of SitesB5C13D8E6F3G1Grand Total36  Of the 10 sites rating E-G, 8 sites are laboratories (G rating – 1 site, F rating – 3 sites and E rating - 4 sites) and therefore have higher than average energy use due to the operational nature of these sites. The 2 remaining E rating sites are offices and are only 3 and 10 units from achieving D rating (average). We continue to invest in the energy efficiency of our estate, through our estate forward maintenance plan and our energy performance contract.

Fly-tipping

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce fly-tipping; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government is committed to tackling fly-tipping. We have given local authorities the power to issue fixed penalty notices for small scale fly-tipping and enhanced local authorities’ and the Environment Agency’s ability to search and seize the vehicles of suspected fly-tippers. Earlier this year we consulted on giving local authorities and the Environment Agency the power to issue fixed penalty notices to householders who fail in their duty of care and pass their waste to fly-tippers. A further announcement will follow later this year. We will also support local authorities in raising householders’ awareness of their duty of care and update the Waste Duty of Care Code of Practice to better inform householders about how to ensure their waste is disposed of properly. As part of the Government’s Resource and Waste Strategy (due to be published before the end of the year), we are developing a strategic approach to waste crime. This will include further measures to tackle fly-tipping, including enhancing local-level partnership working and intelligence sharing and working with the court system to strengthen the sentences of fly-tippers to act as an effective deterrent.

Biodiversity

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his Department spent on biodiversity conservation in (a) England and (b) the UK Overseas Territories in each of the last three financial years.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra spend on biodiversity in England was £278m in 2015/16; and £258m in 2016/17. Figures for 2017/18 are still being compiled for publication, and should be available in July 2019 as part of our update of our Biodiversity Indicators.These figures include a proportion of the total expenditure on agri-environment schemes (55% – the proportion that is assessed to directly contribute to biodiversity outcomes specifically). They also include expenditure by Natural England, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, the Environment Agency and the Forestry Commission on managing the public estate, advice, research and monitoring.This is likely to be an underestimate as spend on biodiversity is integrated into a wide range of Departmental programmes that support multiple outcomes. For example, the figures do not include all spend on marine and fisheries. In 2018/19 £21m will be spent on activities that contribute to the conservation of marine biodiversity. In addition to this, much of the Department’s work to improve the sustainability of our fisheries will also contribute to improving marine biodiversity.The main source of Departmental funding for biodiversity in the UK Overseas Territories (OTs) is through Darwin Plus, also known as “The Overseas Territories Environment and Climate Fund”. Defra’s contribution to Darwin Plus funding in the last three years is as follows: £1.85 million in 2015/16; £2 million in 2016/17; £2 million in 2017/18. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development also contribute.Defra leads on a number of environmental protection projects under the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) but these are funded and administered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Birds of Prey: Conservation

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals on vicarious liability for crimes against birds of prey.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: All wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which provides a powerful framework for the conservation of wild birds, their eggs, nests and habitats. There are no plans to introduce vicarious liability in England for offences related to wildlife crime.

Home Office

Immigrants: EU Nationals

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department plans to contact an applicant's landlord to terminate a rental agreement in the event that an application for (a) settled and (b) temporary status is rejected.

Caroline Nokes: EU nationals currently have an automatic right to rent by reason of their nationality under section 21 of the Immigration Act 2014. Any changes to this position, including to bring EU nationals within scope of the Immigration Act 2016 powers of eviction, will be considered as part of the design of the new global immigration system to be introduced after the EU-exit implementation period. The powers in the 2016 Act enable landlords to evict an individual where the Home Office has served a notice that they are letting to a disqualified person. These notices will only be served where an individual has failed to regularise their stay, leave the UK or comply with directions, and only after a careful examination of the individual’s circumstances and where there are no genuine obstacles to them leaving the UK.The EU Settlement Scheme has been designed to make it easy for EU citizens to get the status they need and to evidence it digitally when accessing work, housing, benefits and services.

Asylum: Housing

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Government will place the (a) asylum accommodation and support services contract, (b) advice, issue, reporting and eligibility contract and (c) associated (i) statements of requirements, (ii) performance management regimes, (iii) key performance indicators, (iv) equality impact assessments and (v) other relevant information on those contracts in the Library.

Caroline Nokes: I am attaching a copy of The Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Statement of Requirements to this response, and will place a copy in the House Library. In line with the Government’s commitment to transparency the remaining contract documentation, redacted for commercially or operationally sensitive information, will be published online soon after the contracts have been awarded and will available here: https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive



AASC Sch 2 - Statement of Req HOC Published 
(Word Document, 191.6 KB)




AIRE Contract Sch 2 SOR - HOC - Published 
(Word Document, 312.42 KB)

Organised Crime

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Serious and Organised Crime Strategy, published on 1 November 2018, when he plans to bring forward proposals for a new funding model to tackle serious organised crime.

Mr Ben Wallace: Funding model options for tackling serious and organised crime will be explored as part of the next Spending Review.

National Crime Agency: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the workforce size of the National Crime Agency in Northern Ireland is expected to change in the next six months.

Mr Ben Wallace: The NCA allocates resources based on priorities in Investigations. Serious and Organised Crime activity in Northern Ireland continues to feature in NCA and PSNI plans.

Agriculture: Seasonal Workers

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department taking to ensure that the agri-food sector is able to access non-UK seasonal workers after the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Darlington on 22 October, UIN 180695.

Entry Clearances: Migrant Workers

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the re-introduction of a Tier 3 visa category to support domestic food and meat production after the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: The Government recognises the valuable contribution that overseas workers make to the UK economy and to our society. We are currently developing options for the future system which will be designed to work in the national interest.On the 18 September, the Migration Advisory Committee published their final report on the current patterns of EEA migration into the UK. We are carefully considering their fourteen recommendations. We plan to publish a White Paper setting out more detail on the future arrangements later in the Autumn.

Home Office: ICT

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November to Question 183259 on Home Office: ICT, what the annual salary cost to his Department is of those 360 people.

Caroline Nokes: The salary cost of ICT staff is part of the wider cost of the service that is delivered by the service provider, and specific salary cost cannot therefore be separated.

Passports

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of UK residents without a valid passport.

Caroline Nokes: Her Majesty’s Passport Office does not hold information on the number of UK residents without a valid passport. However, I can confirm that there were 49,971,015 valid British passports as of 31 December 2017.

Police: Finance

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of lengthening the period that a funding settlement covers for (a) local policing and (b) Counter-Terror policing.

Mr Nick Hurd: We agree that it is important for Police and Crime Commissioners to have financial certainty, which is why we set out in the last police funding settlement the basis upon which we expected to provide funding in 2019/20.However, it is equally important to review the policing landscape and conditions regularly to ensure that funding provided recognises the changing demands on policing.As the Chancellor stated in his budget speech, in addition to extra funding for counter-terrorism, the Home Office will review police spending power and reform ahead of the 2019/20 police funding settlement.The Home Secretary has been clear that he will prioritise funding for the police at the next Spending Review.

Police

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his speech to the APCC and NPCC joint summit 2018, published on gov.uk on 31 October 2018, what meetings he has held with police leaders to seek to build a smarter and better police system which is more collaborative, more innovative, more tech-savvy and less fragmented.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office has engaged closely with policing over a number of years to support the transformation of policing and continues to do so. This takes place through a wide range of fora and engagements including the Police Reform and Transformation Board and the digital roundtables convened by the Minister of Policing and Fire in January and June 2018 to support transformation in the digital space.In May, The Minister for Policing & the Fire Service wrote to police leaders setting out our commitment to work with the police ahead of the Spending Review. We have since launched a comprehensive programme of work covering a range of issues including efficiency, productivity and better use of digital technology.

Crime Prevention

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to his statement of 31 October 2018 to the APCC and NPCC joint summit that there needs to be more of an emphasis on crime prevention, what research his Department holds on the effect of a reduction in police resources on the levels of proactive policing.

Mr Nick Hurd: As we made clear in our Modern Crime Prevention Strategy, there are many factors that drive crime, and so preventing crime is the responsibility of many institutions, not just the police.This Government has provided a strong and comprehensive settlement that is increasing total investment in the police system by over £460m in 2018-19, of which more than £280m from increased council tax precept will go direct to forces to spend locally. It is for operationally independent Chief Constables to decide how best to deploy officers in their force area.HMICFRS’s 2017 PEEL: Effectiveness inspection graded 34 forces as good at preventing crime and anti-social behaviour, four more than in 2016. Some forces had changed their approach to neighbourhood policing to ensure sufficient officers and PCSOs dedicated to preventative and community focused activity. A Police Foundation (2017) study of changes to neighbourhood policing found that forces have pursued a variety of strategies in relation to organising neighbourhood teams.

UK Visas and Immigration: Fees and Charges

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much it will cost to users to use the enhanced user-pay service in 50 local libraries as part of the new UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services.

Caroline Nokes: The price of the enhanced service package will be £60. Customers who choose the enhanced service can make use of pre-appointment checks and dedicated support and feedback in a local library during their appointment.

Fires: Schools

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many school fires involving combustible (a) cladding and (b) insulation have taken place in each year since 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office do not hold this information.

Immigrants: EU Nationals

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate his Department has made of the total staff hours it will take to process all of the applications for settled status from EU citizens living in the UK.

Caroline Nokes: The EU Settlement Scheme will make it easy for EU citizens to get the status they need. They will only need to complete three key steps - prove their identity, show that that they live in the UK, and declare any criminal convictions. We will have circa 1,500 UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) European Casework staff in post before the end of the year to process applications.

Immigrants: EU Nationals

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department is planning for an increase in enforcement activity against EU citizens after the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: Once the UK has left the EU, we will put in place a new single, skills-based immigration system, which will apply to citizens from both EU and non-EU countries. We have always been clear that we want decisions about the future immigration system to be based on evidence and we are carefully considering the Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendations in its recent report, published 18 September, before setting out our plans.We will publish a White Paper which will set out this future system later in the autumn. This will include information on our approach to enforcement.

Metropolitan Police: Mobile Phones

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason the use by the Metropolitan police of the Self Evident app is being discontinued; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: The use of digital applications and channels is an operational matter for individual police forces.

British Nationals Abroad: EU Countries

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Surinder Singh route for spouses and families of British citizens will apply to returning UK citizens from an EU member state after the end of the implementation period for the UK leaving the EU.

Caroline Nokes: Although they are not covered by the draft Withdrawal Agreement with the EU, the Statement of Intent on the EU Settlement Scheme published on 21 June 2018 confirmed that, as a matter of domestic policy, the Government has decided that family members lawfully resident in the UK under the Surinder Singh route by the end of the planned implementation period on 31 December 2020 will be eligible to apply for status under the scheme.After the end of the planned implementation period, the UK will no longer be bound by EU free movement law and the UK’s domestic immigration rules will apply. We will publish a White Paper on the future borders and immigration system later this autumn.

Home Office: Written Questions

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Question 177354 which was asked on 9 October 2018, when his Department plans to answer that question; and for what reason that question has not yet been answered.

Caroline Nokes: The repsonse for UIN 177354 was answered on the 12th November 2018.

Interpol: Taiwan

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will support the granting of observer status to Taiwan at the 87th Interpol General Assembly in Dubai from 18 to 21 November 2018.

Mr Nick Hurd: INTERPOL is an international police organisation which has a crucial role in ensuring co-operation on matters of international criminality.The British Government continues to hold the view that the people of Taiwan have a meaningful contribution to make towards global issues such as organised crime. The UK has not made any representations to secure Taiwan’s observer status at INTERPOL this year. However, government officials are discussing this issue with international partners.

Cannabis: Medical Treatments

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish the advice used to inform his Department on the requirements that (a) the decision to prescribe medicinal cannabis products must be made by a specialist doctor and (b) medicinal cannabis products may only be prescribed when the patient has an unmet special clinical need that cannot be met by other treatments.

Mr Nick Hurd: The prescription of these products by doctors on the Specialist Register of the General Medical Council (GMC) and only where there is an unmet clinical need follows the principles used by the Interim Expert Panel on cannabis-based products for medicinal use. This approach was agreed by senior clinicians on the Expert Panel, Chaired by Dr Michael McBride, Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland. This approach was subsequently supported by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) in their advice to the Home Secretary on rescheduling cannabis. The ACMD advice has been published and is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/further-advice-on-scheduling-of-cannabis-derived-medicinal-productsAny unlicensed medicines, including cannabis-based products for medicinal use, will be supplied under long-standing arrangements for the supply of what are known, in healthcare settings, as ‘specials’. This process is underpinned by the Human Medicines Act and, outside of clinical trials, only allows these unlicensed medicines to be prescribed where there is an unmet clinical need. This restriction is in place because unlicensed medicines have not been through the same quality, safety and efficacy tests as licenced medicines.

Immigrants: EU Nationals

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how he plans to manage the difference in status between EU citizens who arrive in the UK pre-March 2019 and have a right to work and those who arrive post-March 2019 and do not in the event that the UK leaves the EU without an agreement.

Caroline Nokes: Employers already need to carry out right to work checks on EU citizens, as they do with all prospective employees to prevent illegal working. The statutory code of practice and published guidance for employers are clear that EU citizens can evidence their right to work by showing a passport or national identity card, and employers should continue to refer to these documents.EU nationals may also use Home Office residence documentation as evidence of their right to work, but they are not currently required to do so. Even in the unlikely event of a no deal situation, this position will not change next March. We will publish a White Paper on the future immigration system later in the autumn.

Immigrants: EU Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether a person will be refused settled status on grounds of suitability if they (a) have criminal convictions (b) are the subject of an extant deportation order or of a decision to make a deportation order (c) are the subject of an extant exclusion order or exclusion decision and (d) are subject to a removal decision under the EEA Regulations on the grounds of their non-exercise or misuse of rights under Directive 2004/38/EC.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is his Department's policy that people subject to removal orders for non-exercise of Treaty rights between now and the end of the implementation period under the EU Withdrawal Agreement are to be excluded from Settled Status; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: In line with the draft Withdrawal Agreement with the European Union published on 19 March 2018, criminality and security checks will be carried out on applications for status under the EU Settlement Scheme and conduct (including any criminal convictions relating to it) before the end of the planned implementation period on 31 December 2020 will be assessed according to the current EU public policy and security tests for deportation. These are set out in the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016.Consistent with the draft Withdrawal Agreement, an applicant will be refused settled status under the scheme on the grounds of suitability where, at the date of decision, any of the criteria set out in paragraph EU15 of Appendix EU to the Immigration Rules applies.

Immigrants: Slavery

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many victims of modern slavery received a positive conclusive grounds decision but then did not receive discretionary leave to remain or a positive asylum claim in the most recent year for which data is available.

Caroline Nokes: The most recent information on the issue was set out in a letter of 17 February 2017 and relates to the year 2015. This was sent to the Rt Honourable member in his capacity as Chair of Work and Pensions Select Committee.As set out in that letter, 1,043 people were confirmed as victims of modern slavery in 2015. Of these individuals, 379 had applied for asylum at the time the information was collected and 216 had been granted asylum. A further 123 of the individuals had been granted some other form of leave to remain.Some of the individuals may have been granted asylum or leave to remain for another reason since the data was collected but that data is not available.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Brexit

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department has spent on consultancy fees in relation to the UK leaving the EU since July 2016.

David Mundell: The Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland has not incurred any spend on consultancy fees in relation to the UK leaving the EU since July 2016.

Cabinet Office

Government Departments: Sikhs

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the judgment of Mandla (Sewa Singh) and another v Dowell Lee and others [1983] 2 AC 548, which Government Departments and agencies (a) do and (b) do not include Sikh as an ethnic group in their classifications.

Oliver Dowden: The Civil Service records data across a range of characteristics - at present, Sikh is recorded as a religion but not an ethnic group. Departments are advised to collect ethnicity, national identity and religion data in line with the GSS Harmonisation Principles to ensure consistency of workforce reporting across departments.

Government Departments: Digital Technology

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what has been the cost to the public purse of the common technology services programme; and what progress has been made on the implementation of that programme since it began.

Oliver Dowden: The Common Technology Services programme has spent £28.4m to the end of September 2018.   Over the last 3 years, the programme has: supported government departments in obtaining cheaper alternatives to large technological contracts; has delivered a technology template to implement shared technology in multi-tenancy buildings, successfully completing its implementation in the first of the Government Property

Government Departments: ICT

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the (a) timetable, (b) cost and (c) estimated savings are for the Foxhound IT programme.

Oliver Dowden: FOXHOUND is a Cabinet Office-led, cross-government IT programme to develop and deploy a new secure capability for managing sensitive information, including that which is classified up to and at SECRET. The aim is to bear down on the growing information and cyber risk, whilst improving scope for collaboration across the National Security community. The single platform this capability offers will enable some security related savings to be made and an outline Programme timetable and costs are published in Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) annual reports on Major Projects (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/721978/IPA_Annual_Report_2018__2_.pdf and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infrastructure-and-projects-authority-annual-report-2018)

Public Sector: ICT

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse has been of the Public Services Network; and what estimate he has made of the savings to be accrued to the public purse of that Network.

Oliver Dowden: Each government department or organisation connected to the PSN is responsible for procuring its own connectivity services separately from a group of approved providers. Since almost 700 public sector organisations across central government, local government and other public agencies and bodies use the PSN, it is not possible for Cabinet Office to report on the total cost to the public purse.The National Audit Office 2016 “Protecting information across government” report reported that the project saved £406 million across government over the 4 years between 2011/12 and 2014/15.

Government Departments: Data Protection

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many data breaches were reported by each Government department to the Government Security Group in each of the last four years.

Mr David Lidington: Cabinet Office does not require central reporting of data breaches by government departments. The minimum cyber security standard outlines the communications required by a department when there is a security incident that impacts on sensitive information or key operational services. The Government Security Group would be involved in the response to a category one or twocyber security incident impacting a central government department(s), however to date an incident of this type has not occurred. The National Cyber Security Centre’s Annual Report (2018) provides the total number of incidents it has dealt with over the past year.

Intelligence Services: Detainees

Tom Brake: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October to Question 175797, what the timeframe for its response to the Intelligence and Security Committee's reports on detainee mistreatment and rendition is.

Mr David Lidington: I have nothing further to add to my Answer of 11 October to Question 175797.

Non-departmental Public Bodies: Working Hours

Catherine West: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the contracted hours are for the highest paid member of staff in the (a) Crown Commercial Service, (b) Government Property Agency and (c) Civil Service Commission.

Mr David Lidington: The highest paid member of staff in the Civil Service Commission is the Chief Executive (SCS1); the Chief Executive is contracted to work 41 hours per week. Remuneration details are provided in the Civil Service Commission’s Annual Report and Accounts, which can be viewed on the Commission’s website, Gov.uk and is available in the libraries in the Houses of Parliament.

Rendition and Torture: Inquiries

Ian Murray: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the June 2018 report of the Intelligence and Security Committee on rendition and torture, what progress has been made on restarting a judge-led inquiry into those issues; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: I refer the Honourable Gentleman to the answer given by the Minister of State for Europe and the Americas on 12 September 2018 to the Honourable Member for Leeds North West, (reference 171734).

Government Departments: Internet

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many Government departments are using a protective domain name system.

Mr David Lidington: There are several commercial Protective DNS services available alongside the one provided by the NCSC. We do not hold the figure on how many Departments use these commercial providers and can only provide information for those using the NCSC offer. Of the 45 ministerial and non-ministerial departments there are 25 using, or are in the process of adopting the NCSC service. GSG and NCSC are actively working with Departments to adopt the use of the PDNS service.

Treasury

Universities: Enterprise Zones

Ruth Smeeth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, where the new University Enterprise Zones announced in Budget 2018 will be; and by what process that decision was reached.

Robert Jenrick: The Government announced £5m towards University Enterprise Zones in the Budget. The locations of these have not yet been decided. The process for awarding funding is currently being developed by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Treasury: Brexit

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department has spent on consultancy fees relating to the UK leaving the EU since July 2016.

Robert Jenrick: The Treasury does not hold this data in a way that would allow us to extract the information requested from existing accounting records or central searchable databases. Therefore to locate, retrieve and extract this data would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold

Infrastructure: Clacton

Giles Watling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taking to invest in infrastructure in the Clacton region.

Robert Jenrick: We are committed to making sure every area of the country has modern and efficient infrastructure. By the end of the parliament, public capital investment will reach levels not sustained in 40 years. Essex will receive £19 million for local roads maintenance in 2018/19, and DfT has provided £4 million to Essex County Council for development funding for improvements to the A120. In the last 5 years access to Superfast Broadband in Clacton has risen from 77% to 98%.The Budget announced new programmes delivered at the local level to address barriers to productivity and increased funding for existing programmes, including an additional £420 million in 2018/19 to tackle potholes, repair damaged roads, and invest in keeping bridges open and safe. The £675 million Future High Streets Fund will support and fund local areas’ plans to make their high streets and town centres fit for the future, and the Budget also announced £150 million funding pot for a new competition for small improvements projects such as roundabouts.

Locums: Tax Avoidance

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the effect on locum doctors and nurses of the 2019 loan charge for disguised remuneration schemes.

Mel Stride: I refer the Honourable member to my statement made on 5th November 2018, to Parliamentary Question 186276:https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-10-31/186276/

Press and Publications: VAT

Sir David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take following the passage of EU Directive 2006/112/EC on the rates of value added tax applied to books, newspapers and periodicals.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions his Department has had and with whom on (a) EU Directive 2006/112/EC and (b) the UK VAT regime on print and digital publications.

Mel Stride: Value Added Tax (VAT) generates over £120 billion each year for our vital public services. With this in mind, any amendments to the VAT regime as it applies to physical and digital publications must be carefully assessed against policy, economic and fiscal considerations.HM Treasury officials have discussed EU Directive 2006/112 in the usual UK and EU fora. In respect of EU legislative changes relating to physical and digital publications, HM Treasury has received representations from the industry and discussed the matter at official level with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Digital Technology: Taxation

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that that the new Digital Services Tax announced Budget 2018 does not disproportionately affect small digital businesses.

Mel Stride: The Digital Services Tax will only apply to businesses with in-scope revenues of more than £500 million globally and £25 million in the UK, and businesses will not have to pay the tax on their first £25 million of relevant UK revenues. This means small businesses will not be in scope of the tax. The tax also includes a ‘safe-harbour’ which means those with very low profit margins will be able to elect to pay a lower rate of tax, which will ensure the DST is proportionate.

Bank Notes

Wes Streeting: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Governor of the Bank of England on the person who will be represented on the new £50 note.

John Glen: The Bank of England is responsible for the design, production, issue and distribution of bank notes. On 2 November 2018, the Governor of the Bank of England announced that the design of the new £50 note will celebrate the UK’s contribution to science. Members of the public have until 14 December to nominate a historical character who has contributed to science and influenced UK society to feature on the note.

Gaming Machines: Taxation

Tom Watson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the money to be accrued to the public purse in tax from the profits made by gambling companies from fixed odds betting terminals between April 2019 and October 2019.

Robert Jenrick: As the Chancellor set out to the Treasury Select Committee on 5 November, changes to Fixed Odds Betting Terminals and Remote Gaming Duty will be implemented simultaneously. This ensures that regardless of when changes to Fixed Odds Betting Terminals and Remote Gaming Duty are implemented, there will be no significant change to the exchequer impact.

Gaming Machines: Taxation

Tom Watson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department conducted impact assessments on levels of taxation of different implementation dates for reducing the maximum stakes on fixed odds betting terminals.

Robert Jenrick: The government made clear in May that the timing of implementation does not make a difference to the public finances. Remote Gaming Duty will be increased at the same time to offset the foregone revenue.

Minimum Wage: Fines

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the level of fine was for each successful prosecution of an employer paying an employee less than the minimum wage in the last 12 months.

Mel Stride: In 2017/18, HMRC levied 810 penalties, amounting to over £14 million, against employers who failed to pay workers the National Minimum and Living Wage (NMW). In the same period, there was one prosecution for obstructing an NMW investigation resulting in a fine of £2,977. Breaches of NMW legislation are normally a civil matter, where the consequences for not complying with NMW rules can include fines of 200% of the arrears and public naming. Criminal prosecution is reserved for the most serious non-compliance. The government is determined to ensure that everyone who is entitled to the NMW receives it. Anyone who feels they have not been paid the NMW should contact Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100 or via the online complaints form at gov.uk. HMRC reviews all complaints that are referred to them.

Mortgages: EU Law

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the EU Mortgage Credit Directive on access to lower mortgage rates.

John Glen: The EU Mortgage Credit Directive (MCD), which came into force in March 2016, prevents lenders waiving the affordability requirements when a borrower moves to a new lender. As a result some borrowers may find it harder to switch to a new lender to access lower rates. While we must comply with the MCD, the Financial Conduct Authority have put in place exemptions which allow lenders to waive affordability requirements for customers that are remortgaging with their existing lender but not increasing the size of their debt. In addition in July 2018, UK Finance, the Building Socieities Association, and the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association, announced a cross industry voluntary agreement. Under this agreement lenders undertook to write by the end of 2018 to any borrowers on the reversion rate who are up to date with payments, and have a minimum of 2 years and £10,000 left on their mortgage, to let them know they can access lower mortgage rates with their existing lender. Officials in the Treasury continue to work closely with the FCA and industry to explore what more can be done.

Telecommunications: Non-domestic Rates

Liam Byrne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 31 October 2018 to Question 184372 on Optical Fibres: Non-domestic Rates, what estimate his Department has made of the income for the public purse from rates on (a) new build (b) the existing stock of all fixed and mobile telecommunications infrastructure for each year for which his Department has such projections.

Robert Jenrick: The Treasury does not collect or hold data on business rates receipts by asset type.

Schools: Finance

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.60 of the Budget 2018 Red Book, whether the funding for state-funded schools to cover pension costs will be allocated from the £4.7bn extra DEL in the reserve for 2019-20.

Elizabeth Truss: Additional funds will be allocated to the Department for Education to meet the proportion of the expected £4.7 billion in additional pension costs that falls to them. The Department for Education are proposing to provide state-funded schools with funding to cover their additional pensions costs for the rest of this Spending Review period.

Electronic Funds Transfer

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with his European counterparts on the feasibility of establishing an alternative mechanism for money transfers autonomous from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.

John Glen: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

Air Ambulance Services: South Yorkshire

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference paragraph 5.11 of Budget 2018 Red Book, how much and what proportion of the additional funding for air ambulance services will be allocated to South Yorkshire.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department of Health and Social Care are developing and launching an application process and will be in touch with air ambulance charities and the Association of Air Ambulances to confirm details and timings in due course. The amount of funding awarded will depend on the amount requested in bids from air ambulance charity trusts, subject to approval from the Department of Health and Social Care.

Private Rented Housing: Low Incomes

Alex Norris: To ask the Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect on low-income tenants of landlords adjust their rental prices in relation to section 24 of the Finance (No. 2) Act 2015.

John Glen: The Government estimates that only 1 in 5 landlords would pay more tax as a result of the restrictions to landlords’ finance cost relief, once it is fully implemented. When introduced, the government did not expect this measure to have a significant impact on either house prices or rent levels.The restrictions came in to effect in April 2017. The most recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) index of private housing rental prices shows that rental prices increased by 0.9% in the 12 months to September 2018. A year ago (the 12 months to September 2017) the annual rate of growth was 1.6%.

Sanctions and Anti-money Laundering Act 2018

Helen Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the money which will accrue to the public purse as a result of the coming into force of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018; and for what reason that estimate was not published in the Avoidance and Evasion section of Budget 2018.

John Glen: The Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 created no new monetary penalties for financial sanctions or anti-money laundering breaches. Any monetary penalties for breaches of financial sanctions imposed using the powers established by the Act will be paid into the Consolidated fund. No estimates have been made of the value of such potential penalties, or any other consequential implications for the public finances.

Private Finance Initiative: Taxation

Stella Creasy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2018 to Question 129135 on Private Finance Initiative: Taxation, if he will publish the (a) legal and (b) technical advice he has received on the principle of a windfall tax on PFI companies.

Mel Stride: The Chancellor announced at the Budget 2018 that Private Finance 2 will not be used for new projects. Private Finance contracts include non-discriminatory clauses such that if a tax were targeted at PFI companies, these companies would be contractually entitled to recover this cost from the procuring authority. A windfall tax would therefore be a tax on local authorities, NHS Trusts and government departments that hold PFI contracts.

Defence: Finance

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2018 to Question 185543 on Defence finance, whether the reprofiling of the Dreadnought programme bringing forward spend into the early years, set out on page 30 of The Defence Equipment Plan 2018, contributed to the decision to allocate £1bn for Defence in Budget 2018.

Elizabeth Truss: The £1bn additional funding for MoD will be used to invest in a number of key priority capabilities, one of which is Dreadnought. It is for MoD to decide how much of the additional funding is for Dreadnought, which they will do as part of their normal budgeting process.

Defence: Finance

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2018 to Question 185543 on Defence: finance, if the Secretary of State for Defence decides to spend all or part of the additional funding on the Dreadnought programme whether this spend will be accounted for as additional to and separate from the £10 billion Dreadnought contingency.

Elizabeth Truss: The £1bn for Defence announced at Budget 18 is additional funding for MoD to ensure that the Armed Forces can continue to modernise and invest in key priority capabilities. The final allocation and treatment will be agreed through MOD’s normal budgeting process

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Cybercrime

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish the successful bids to the Cyber Skills Immediate Impact Fund for each region.

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 31 October 2018 to Question 184409 on Cybercrime, how many of the 170 individuals have been (a) participating and (b) identified to take part.

Margot James: Details of the seven initiatives supported through the Cyber Skills Immediate Impact Fund (CSIIF) pilot are published on the CSIIF gov.uk page. Initiatives are based in London, Leeds, Bristol, Worcester, Salford and Essex. A number of these initiatives have a national reach, including online platforms that can be accessed by individuals across the UK. Approximately 170 individuals were either participating or had been identified to take part in the seven CSIIF pilot initiatives as of end of October 2018. Five of those initiatives have commenced in full and two continue to identify participants. The full level of participation and an assessment of employment outcomes of all seven pilot initiatives will be considered as part of an independent evaluation in 2019.

Arts

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on the implementation of the Creative Industries Sector Deal.

Margot James: Considerable progress has been made implementing the £150m government and industry commitments set out in the Creative Industries Sector Deal. The winners of the Arts and Humanities Research Council’s Creative Industries Clusters Fund are due to be announced this month; both the Audiences of the Future programme and the Cultural Development Fund are underway; and further detail on the DCMS funded Creative Careers and Investment Readiness programmes are to be published shortly. Four rounds of Intellectual Property roundtables have taken place to discuss issues within social media, digital advertising and online marketplaces, and the new Trade and Investment Board is due to hold its inaugural meeting later this month.

Musicians

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what initiatives his Department is promoting to help ensure that (a) UK musicians are able to perform in the EU and (b) EU musicians are able to perform in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

Margot James: The music industry is a major success story for the UK and the government recognises the importance of the continued mobility of talented individuals and groups to support cultural and creative cooperation and the continued growth of the sector. Recognising the depth of the UK-EU relationship, the UK is seeking reciprocal mobility arrangements with the EU in a defined number of areas, for example to allow business professionals to provide services, or tourists to continue to travel visa-free. This is in line with the arrangements that the UK might want to offer other close trading partners in future, where they support new and deep trade deals. This is subject to wider negotiations with the EU.

Broadband

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on the target for a nationwide full-fibre broadband network by 2033.

Margot James: The Government published its Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR) in July 2018, setting out its strategy for delivering its target for a nationwide full fibre broadband network by 2033. On 29 October, DCMS published two of the consultations promised in the FTIR, on new legislation to reform existing access agreement arrangements to provide a right of entry for communication providers in cases of absentee landlords, and to ensure full fibre connections to new build developments. At Budget, the Government also announced £200m from the National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF) to further support the deployment of full fibre to the commercially most difficult to reach premises. In its October Connected Nations report, Ofcom confirmed that full fibre coverage had reached 1.4 million premises in May 2018, up from less than 900,000 premises in May 2017. Commitments to full fibre rollout from industry have also continued, for example with CityFibre recently announcing a £2.5 billion investment plan to expand its full fibre network to 5 million homes.

Gambling

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which gambling companies he has held meetings with since he took up his current office.

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on what dates he met with the hon. Member for Shipley since becoming Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on what day he read the Government's response to Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures, published by the Gambling Commission on 17 May 2018.

Jeremy Wright: I have not met with any gambling companies since my appointment. The Minister for Sport and Civil Society, together with officials, hold regular such meetings and I will be attending a roundtable with the gambling industry later this year. I held a meeting with the hon Member for Shipley and the hon Member for Tewkesbury on 10 October and have held further conversations with colleagues on this issue. I am fully briefed on all aspects of the Gambling Review, including the Government's response to Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures.

Internet: Security

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2018 to Question 180309 on Internet: Security, what his Department's definition is of best possible industry uptake of the Code; and whether that definition includes a quantifiable target.

Margot James: The consumer Internet of Things (IoT) sector is an exciting area of technology which is expected to grow significantly in the coming years as new products come to market. The exact level of this growth remains highly uncertain, with predictions ranging from 6.4 billion to 75 billion devices on the global market by 2020. This level of uncertainty makes the setting of a target unhelpful as it may limit our ambition.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Brexit

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much her Department has spent on consultancy fees in relation to the UK leaving the EU since July 2016.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Department has spent £16,902 on consultancy fees since July 2016 for work related to the UK leaving the EU. This work covered research into many aspects of the economy in Northern Ireland, and only a portion of this work related directly to the impact of EU Exit.

Waste Disposal: Northern Ireland

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to her Answer of 5 November 2018 to Question 185592 on Waste Disposal: Northern Ireland, what guidance she plans to issue to the Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure on the use of private finance for the funding of infrastructure projects.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has provided guidance to the Northern Ireland Departments on decision making in the absence of the Executive. There are no plans to issue the Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure with specific guidance on the use of private finance for the funding of infrastructure.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Working Hours

Catherine West: To ask the Attorney General, what the contracted hours are for the highest paid member of staff in the (a) Serious Fraud Office, (b) Government Legal Department, (c) Crown Prosecution Service and (d) HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate.

Robert Buckland: The contracted minimum hours (including meal breaks) for the highest paid member of staff from the Serious Fraud Office, the Government Legal Department, and Crown Prosecution Service are: SFO42GLD42CPS42 This is in line with the terms and conditions of SCS appointments. The highest paid member of staff from HM Crown Prosecution service is contracted to work 36 hours a week, not including meal breaks, plus additional hours as may, from time to time, be reasonable and necessary.